Amy the Outcast
by Esmara
Summary: Amy was never the normal girl at school, but she was used to it. Then, she learns something that destroys everything she thought she knew. Can Amy find her one true place when the only home she's ever known isn't actually home? Complete
1. Chapter 1: Meet Amy

Chapter 1: Meet Amy

_Freak. Outcast. Weirdo. Monster. _They were words the girl heard every day, as she walked to school or went from class to class, and she tried her best to ignore it. But it was difficult, especially when the others threw pencils at her or tugged at her long white hair, laughing as the sharp pain caused tears to blur her red eyes. It didn't happen often – typically only the middle-school kids went for her hair –but it still did enough times for her to know which routes she could walk without ending up with a stinging sensation on her scalp along with a small bald spot. It was hard, being the weird girl in school, but Amy was used to it.

Life had become a sad but comfortable routine for Amy – wake up in an empty house, her mother out shopping while her father was working at the lab; put on her uniform, pull her hair up into two long pigtails that were knotted into heart-shaped buns at the top of her head, and put on her glasses before heading downstairs; make breakfast for herself and add anything the house needed to the grocery list; make sure that she had all her books before leaving the house; and walk to school by herself.

After that, she spent the hours listening to the teacher, taking notes, and trying to ignore the jeers of the kids behind her every time she raised her hand to ask a question. Lunch was about an hour of sitting by herself and slowly nibbling on the peanut-butter-on-white sandwich she made for herself the night before and had stored in the fridge. After lunch was science, her specialty, and study hall, which she always wore a hat to in order to avoid getting spit balls that were shot at her stuck in her hair. She always made a point of getting home as quickly as possible, to avoid any of the boys from her class catching up to and harassing her about her looks or the fact that she didn't have any friends.

When she got home, Amy would get straight to doing her homework, and she was always done before her father came home from work, just in time for her to start preparing dinner for herself – her father ate at work, and goodness knew what her mother was up to. She would study while she ate, and do her own dishes before putting her books away and going upstairs.

That was where she was safe. Amy would sit cross-legged on her bed, pull out the small notebook that she kept behind her pillow, and she would write. Amy would spend almost three whole hours writing poetry, coming up with recipes, making up little tunes that made no sense, or just writing letters on the page to form nonsense stories. This was when she was happiest – alone, free to write anything, without the judgmental eyes of her peers boring into the back of her head. This was freedom for the seventeen-year-old, the only time she was truly happy.

Then everything changed.


	2. Chapter 2: First Day of Summer

Chapter 2: First Day of Summer

Amy should have known that something wasn't quite right when she woke up on the last day of school with a smile on her face. she got out of bed with the large grin fixed in place, while she eagerly packed up a few more things into her suitcase, along with her secret journal, and brought it downstairs. Her father was hunched over his notes and pinching his brow. "This is bad, this is very bad... these aren't the results I was hoping for at all..."

"What's the matter, Dad?" Amy asked as she packed her lunch and stuck it in her backpack, having placed her suitcase by the doorway.

"Oh, it's nothing... I've been studying a new species for quite some time now, and the behavioral patterns I've been observing don't match up to what I had hoped at all. It really is an unwanted setback..."

"How long have you been watching it?" Amy asked, sitting down across from her father. Conversations between the two were rare, seeing as how he was so busy, and Amy wanted to savor what she could get… even if it was about his work.

"It's been... well, it's been over 15 years since I discovered the specimen," her father responded. "I stumbled upon the creature inside an abandoned aircraft, while I was out on an expedition in the desert. It was little more than a fetus in a large test tube, surrounded by vials and digital schematics. I did some tampering... and that's all I can tell you, actually," he said, putting away the papers. "Nobody knew where the ship had come from, but I was allowed to continue studying the specimen in order to determine if it was a threat or not. Unfortunately, the specimen is very... antisocial, so I haven't reached anything conclusive." He glanced up at his daughter. "Why are you smiling, Amy?"

"Did you forget already?" Amy asked, swallowing a bite of cereal as she did, and her father frowned. "Tomorrow's the first day of summer vacation, and this is the first year I won't spend with my cousins, 'cuz we're going as a family! You, me, and Mom! Aren't you excited?"

"Oh, that's right... are you sure you don't want to stay with your cousins? They keep emailing and telling me they were looking forward to seeing you..."

Memories of being egged and finding insects in her bed flashed across Amy's mind, and she shook her head. "I never get to spend any time with you or Mom anymore... I've been looking forward to this vacation for months. Aren't you excited?"

"Of course, Amy, but I was simply consideri- ah!" He glanced down at his watch, and stood up, straightening his tie. "I need to get going! I'll see you after school, Amy." With that, he picked up his papers and briefcase and left the building.

The last day of school was both very quick and painfully slow for Amy. She couldn't think about anything besides what she was going to do on vacation - surfing, swimming, tanning, maybe even making a friend or two. The fact that there were no more tests that day was certainly a good thing, because she wouldn't have been able to focus on them. Even the jeers from the other students couldn't dampen her excitement - this was going to be her summer, the one where things went right for once.

Amy was sitting on the edge of her seat as she watched the last few minutes of the school day ticked by on the clock, each movement of the minute hand causing her to scoot further and further forward, to the point that she almost fell out of the chair. She took off the exact instant that she caught the first sound of the dismissal bell, and was outside of the school building before the teacher could blink.

Amy was halfway home when she got the text message. It was from her father: Get your suitcase and come to my office.

"That's odd..." she murmured as she kept walking, but ran the rest of the way home and lifted her suitcase from its spot next to the doorway. She quickly took inventory - a few changes of clothes, her journal, writing supplies, iPod Nano (the original model) and a disposable camera, along with her multivitamins, writing supplies, a spare journal, her toothbrush, and a few books she planned on reading. Perfect. Amy closed the suitcase and ran to the building where her father worked.

Amy was good at figuring out where a building was, even when she took a new route or was in an unfamiliar area - this explained how she reached her father's workplace in less than half an hour, despite the fact that she'd only been there twice in the past. The laboratory building was very calm, and the only sound she heard as she entered the front lobby was the clicking of her shoes against the polished tile floor. Amy approached the front desk with a polite smile on her face.

"Excuse me," she quietly said to the receptionist, who paused his vido game in order to look at her and raise an eyebrow, obviously skeptical about whether or not her hair and eye color were natural, "I'm here to see Professor Johnson?"

"He's having a meeting in his office," the receptionist answered, "Lemme check if they've left." He dialed a number on the nearby phone. "Professor Johnson, there's somebody..." he looked at Amy.

"Amy."

"Right. There's an Amy here to see you."

"Send her up," Came her father's voice from the other end. He sounded... odd, though. Like he was in a bad mood. Or no mood at all. Amy furrowed her brow, but still walked past the desk to the elevator, pressing the UP button when she reached it. It took three tense minutes for the elevator doors to open, but she remained calm as she stepped in. The elevator was empty besides herself, and she was tempted to hold it open longer to see if anybody else needed to get on. However, she quickly discarded the notion and pressed the button that was labeled 5.

Amy walked down the hall, took a left, walked down three doors, and took a right, and found her father's office two doors away. She quietly approached it, and leaned against the doorway, in the hopes of hearing nothing - she hated the thought of interrupting his meeting. Her grip on the handle of her suitcase tightened in slight frustration when she heard a voice that was not her father's on the other side. She waited until the voice stopped before knocking on the door.

"Dad?"


	3. Chapter 3: Everything Changes

Chapter 3: Everything Changes

"Come in, Miss Amy." The voice was not her father's. Amy cautiously opened the door before looking inside.

Her father was seated at his desk, and the two chairs facing him were occupied by a man and a woman, both wearing black suits and sunglasses. A third person – a man – in similar attire was standing to the side of the desk, standing to face her father but his head turning to look at Amy. He nodded at her, and she reluctantly entered the room, leaning against the door as she closed it behind her. A tense half-moment passed before she walked up to the desk, and pulled up a small stool to sit on.

"This is your daughter, professor?" The woman asked in a professional tone, and Johnson gave a small nod. "We will need to verify that." Amy's father said nothing, but glanced up at her. The woman turned to Amy. "You wouldn't mine a quick test, then? Security purposes, you understand?" Amy nodded, and the woman gave a satisfied half-smile before bending over and opening the black briefcase beside her. "This," she said as she removed a small device with what looked like some sort of hollow needle at the end, "is a simple blood scan to see if your DNA matches pre-existing samples in your medical records. Hold out your hand." Amy complied, and the woman used the needle to lightly prick her fingertip. The small drop of blood was quickly drained by the hollow part of the needle. The woman looked at the screen, and arched an eyebrow. "Interesting…" she looked at Amy. "Your father is the one who maintains your medical records, correct?" Amy nodded. "The DNA's a match." She put the needle away, but removed a small bag inside the machine, which now held Amy's blood, to the man next to her. "Check this out."

"Excuse me…" she finally murmured, "Can I ask what's going on?"

The woman looked at Amy again. "What do you know of your father's work, Amy?"

The question surprised Amy a bit. "I know he works here at the lab, and he studies genetics and other things involving natural behavior… I've only been here twice, and he doesn't talk about his work much, so I don't really know much…"

"Has he ever mentioned anything that struck you as… unusual? Anything that sounded strange or out of the ordinary?"

"She doesn't know," Johnson began, but the woman glared at him.

"Don't try to put words in her mouth, Johnson. Now," she turned to Amy again, "anything at all?"

"Well… the only weird thing he ever mentioned was some specimen he discovered in the desert quite a while ago, but all he told me was that it wasn't acting the way he'd hoped… she told me he found it in an abandoned test tube and had tampered with it. That's the only thing I can think of…" Amy trailed off. She was honestly getting a tad nervous, surrounded by all of these people who looked like they'd stepped right out of Men in Black and questioning her.

"Amy. How did you get here?" The man who was sitting suddenly asked.

"I… I ran," Amy answered, taken aback.

"How long did it take you, approximately?"

"About… 20 minutes from the house to here."

"By running? You got here in 20 minutes by running?"

"Yes…" It was barely a suspicious, worried whisper from under her breath.

"And nothing about that seems… unusual to you?" The man asked, raising an eyebrow when Amy slowly shook her head. "Kid, it takes most people an hour to cover that distance on foot."

Amy furrowed her brow. "That… doesn't make any sense. I know I was running, but not as fast as I could…" The man nodded.

"So that's normal for you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Any reason why you think you got here in a third of the time it takes most people?"

"No, sir, I have no idea."

Amy shifted in her seat as the woman returned her attention to Johnson. "You understand that this makes things more difficult for us, Mr. Johnson?" When she was given no reply, the woman sighed and adjusted her glasses. "Professor Johnson, you do understand that what you did was _illegal, _correct? The ship you obtained that genetic material from was private property, and the DNA itself was illegally obtained and used, not just by you but by the original owner of the ship. As such, we must remove this so-called "specimen" from your custody."

"I understand," Johnson said, and Amy frowned.

"Oh, Dad, I'm sorry… all of your hard work…" Amy started to say, but her father shook his head.

"… Was a failure anyway," he added. "I sought to create a better specimen, a stronger one, one that was less flawed and more capable. I failed horribly. Antisocial, cowardly, weak, awkward… and brings out the worst in people. Just being around… her… something in that DNA, some alien gift I was unable to suppress, made it impossible to ignore her. Just being in the same room made her occupy your thoughts, and you'd find yourself just thinking about her… mostly about how strange, how _alien _she was. It drove her peers mad, and they targeted her, to make her go away, so they could think about themselves again. But it was only those of her base species – other living species didn't mind her. Even I found myself hating her, going to work as much as possible so that I could just think about anything besides my own creation. I tried… to make a better human being…" he looked up at Amy, who was now frozen to her seat, unable to move, thinking _please, no… _"And I failed."

"Dad…" Amy whispered as the horrible truth dawned on her, "Dad, please, no…"

"I hereby relinquish the specimen to your custody, agents. Take her away –I can't think straight."

Amy couldn't move. She couldn't will her muscles to do anything, and when the female agent took her arm and started leading her out of the room while the man who had been standing lifted Amy's suitcase, she made no move to resist. There was nothing she could do besides stare at the man she'd thought was her father as the agents led her away, nothing she could feel besides this sudden hollowness inside her stomach, nothing she could think beyond _No, this isn't right… I don't understand…_

Amy made it all the way to the door before she felt her knees give out, and everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4: New Faces and a Headache

Chapter 4: New Faces and a Headache

Amy woke up lying on what felt like one of the cots at the nurse's office back at the school building. She could hear a pair of voices, but when she opened her eyes, she found it impossible to focus her eyesight, which was blurry and fuzzy – somebody had taken from her glasses. She didn't try to move – without her glasses, she could barely tell what or where anything was. All she could see was grayish white – had to be the ceiling. She turned her head to one side, and was met with the same grayish white – wall. She turned her head the other way, and immediately squeezed her eyes shut – that had been an assault of pure, unadulterated color, without any filtering or outlines to give it some control or context. Amy rubbed her forehead when the headache suddenly kicked in.

What had happened to her? The last thing Amy remembered before blacking out was her dad – no, Professor Johnson – handing her over to the folks in black. After that, nothing… Amy tried opening her eyes again, and was relieved to see that the colors were less intense on her blurred vision. There were two different blobs – one thin and yellow, and the other round and purple, and from what she could tell both were wearing white coats. It was after the headache calmed down that she realized they were speaking English.

"… And that explains how white-haired girl attracts antagonistic attention from peers." One of the two finished. "What is real mystery is how my first lab crash-landed on Earth in first place. Is very unlikely."

"Are we really questioning something that happened twenty years ago? What's important is what we're going to do with her!" A second voice added, and Amy could barely make out the yellow blob gesturing to her.

"True, Pleakley, is not the big problem. Big problem is we do not know if human scientist knew what he was doing when tampering with genetic samples. Evil genius will need time to analyze DNA, in order to make sure white-haired girl is stable, and hopefully get results soon. But we do know that white-haired girl must have bad vision if prescription glasses are this thick." Amy had to squint in order to find the glint of her glasses in the large hands of the purple blob. It wasn't until the purple one stopped talking that Amy decided to sit up.

"Um… excuse me?" Amy felt the two blobs turn to look at her as she sat up. Amy scooted back to brace herself against the wall – people in general made her nervous, and she couldn't tell if these two were even human or not. "Where am I?"

"Ah!" The purple one lifted his thick-looking arms – she thought they were arms? – in the air. "White-haired girl has woken up. Welcome to evil genius Jumba's laboratory on big red battleship. I am evil genius Jumba, and this" he gestured to the yellow blob, "is not-so-evil assistant Pleakley."

Amy frowned and squinted as she tried to figure out whether or not the yellow one was waving at her. "I'm Amy…" she whispered, "Um… I can't really see you… where are my glasses?"

"Oh, yes, you are needing glasses to see. Here you go." Amy reached out and took the glasses from the one called Jumba, and closed her eyes before putting them on. When she opened them again, what she saw caused her to jump backward, banging her head against the wall when she did.

"Nice going," Pleakley said, glaring at Jumba with his large, single eye. "You didn't give the poor girl any warning!"

"How was I to know she would get scared? Most humans on island are not afraid of Jumba and Pleakley," Jumba responded, his smaller pair of eyes blinking. Amy could only look back and forth between the two while massaging the bump on the back of her head. Oh, her head hurt…

"Wh-what… you guys are…" Amy mumbled incoherently, eyes flickering back and forth between the two of them. They both looked at her.

"I am so sorry miss," Pleakley started, "We didn't mean to frighten you. You see, Jumba's an expert on-"

"Genetic experimentation!" Jumba lifted his arms in the air, and Pleakley ducked only at the last second. "And you are very interesting case. I have been assigned to ensure that your DNA is stable and not a threat before we reach planet Turo."

Amy blinked. "DNA… ow…" she rubbed the back of her head again. Why was she suddenly getting this headache? She didn't have any migraine pro- "Wait, did you just say we're going to a different - "

Amy was cut off as the door to the small lab opened, and the woman in the suit she'd seen earlier walked into the room.


	5. Chapter 5: Peanut Butter and Jelly

Chapter 5: Peanut Butter and Jelly

Amy froze up when the woman walked into the room. Not out of fear so much as nervousness – she had no idea what was happening, where she was, or why her head had started throbbing. Amy was only vaguely aware of Pleakley and Jumba backing up as the woman approached the small cot Amy was sitting on, and placed something in front of her.

It was Amy's suitcase.

"Amy Johnson, welcome aboard the main battleship of the Galactic Armada. I am CIA Agent Crystal Venom." The woman said calmly, opening Amy's suitcase. "I have inspected the contents of your bag and found nothing that could be a potential threat to the Galactic Federation, so you can have it back. However," she removed a bottle from the bag, "You've been out for quite some time, and according to the schedule on this you should have taken one of these pills over an hour ago."

Amy blinked, trying to organize her thoughts, before realizing what the bottle full of pills was. "My multivitamin," she mumbled, and the woman handed her the bottle. Amy was somehow able to calm down enough to open the bottle, remove one vitamin, swallow it, and close the bottle again without spilling the little blue and red pills everywhere. Almost immediately, her headache started clearing up – she chalked it up to some sort of withdrawal symptom. Her mind started racing as soon as it could coherently think again – _Armada? Galactic Federation? CIA? My DNA- wait, what was that agent's name again? _

"You are to report to the front of the ship as soon as Professor Jumba has determined that you are stable. We have no idea what DNA you might have running through your veins, and we don't want to take any risks," Agent Venom said as she walked to the doorway. "When you are ready, an escort will be sent so you don't get lost and end up in the same room as some of our more unsavory passengers. Convicts, criminals, you've watched sci-fi movies, haven't you? You've already heard this before on TV." With that, she left the room.

"… I don't watch TV," Amy said after the woman was gone. She jumped a bit when she heard Jumba clear his throat.

"Now then," he began, "we will be needing to take small blood sample in order to scan DNA. You are familiar with having blood removed, yes?" Amy nodded as he removed a needle from a nearby drawer. "Very good. This will only sting a little…"

Amy had honestly been surprised when Jumba had been able to carefully remove blood from her arm without any trouble – those huge hands were much more precise than they appeared. After successfully removing a needle's worth of blood and giving her a Transformers Band-Aid to put on the spot on her arm where he'd drawn the blood, Jumba proceeded to perform test after test after test, checking for everything from cold symptoms to radioactivity to potentially explosive properties. The process seemed to take hours, and it was within the first thirty minutes that Amy found herself reading through the boos she'd packed in order to calm her nerves, as well as pass the time. Pleakley had left by that point. The minutes dragged on as she listened to machines clicking and beeping, liquids bubbling, her Ipod playing Kelly Clarkson's "You Found Me" for the Nth time while on Shuffle, and Jumba muttering things like "Very peculiar" and "Interesting" to himself as he watched the different vials. It was after three hours that she heard what sounded like a guttural snarl, making her look around from where she sat on the cot in a panic. It was only after she heard it again that she realized what it was – her stomach.

"Um… professor Jumba?" Amy asked quietly as he examined a vial of green liquid. "Is it okay if I eat in here? I'm kinda hungry…"

"If white-haired girl has food, then eat, so long as I do not end up having to clean big mess." He answered without turning around to face her. "Yes… very interesting… not so brilliant as my own experiments, but still very well-synthesized…"

Amy sighed a bit when she realized he wasn't paying attention any more. She'd gotten over her initial fear by now – he was more interested in studying her blood than attacking her. She rooted through her bag before finding the lunch she'd packed earlier for the plane she'd expected to ride on – a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich. Another growl made Amy realize that she really was hungry…

It was just as she was about to take a bite that Jumba spoke. "Test results are complete. While white-haired girl composed of many different DNA samples – did not know I had some of these samples – you are very much stable. I will contact the front deck and request escort to captain." He then walked over to a button on the side of the wall, and pressed it.

"This is the captain," a deep baritone suddenly spoke from what seemed like an intercom system.

"Yes, this is Jumba. I have determined that white-haired girl is stable and is safe for her to land on Planet Turo when we arrive. I am requesting escort to front deck."

"Excellent. The escort will be at the lab within the next ten minutes," the captain answered, and the intercom turned off.

"You hear that?" Jumba asked, looking over his shoulder at Amy, who still hadn't taken a bite of her lunch. "Get things packed up, white-haired girl. Escort will be here quickly, we do not want captain to wait more than necessary."

Amy nodded, and quickly put her books back in the suitcase after setting the sandwich on top of the plastic bag she'd wrapped it in earlier. She worked quickly, and all of the books were put away by the time she heard footsteps at the end of the hallway. She got off of the cot, lifted up her suitcase with one hand, and her sandwich with the other. She turned back to Jumba. She wanted to say something, perhaps thank him for… something, but no words came, and he was already absorbed with his work again.

"Goodbye," she finally said, and stepped out of the room.

The hallway stretched in both directions, and the footsteps echoed in a way that made it hard to tell where they were coming from. Amy looked to her left, and even after waiting a moment, saw nothing.

"You're Amy, huh?"

Amy jumped a few inches in the air upon hearing somebody speak behind her, and let out a small squeak before whirling around and clapping a hand over her mouth to face the one who had addressed her. She was only somewhat surprised when she saw he was another alien.

The first thing Amy noticed was that he was a few inches taller than her, probably 5"8 or something like that. The second thing she noticed was that he was covered in light honey mustard-yellow colored fur, with a lighter lower jaw and belly. He had black eyes, two teeth that stuck out over his bottom lip on the opposite sides of his mouth, ears that hung down on the sides of his head, and three antenna-like things – she couldn't tell – sticking out of the top of his head. He was a bit pudgy around the face and had a bit of a stomach, but he looked strong – very strong.

Amy suddenly realized she was staring at him. "Oh! Oh, yeah, I'm Amy," she said quickly, hiding the bottom half of her face with her sandwich. The alien smiled, and held out his hand.

"It's about time I metcha, been hearing about this new human on deck for hours. I'm the one who's escorting you to the front." Amy took his hand, and he gave it a friendly shake before letting go and putting his hand back into the pocket of the cargo pants he was wearing. "Galley Officer Reuben, at'cher service. Say, is that peanut butter an jelly?"


	6. Chapter 6: the next destination

Chapter 6: The Next Destination

Amy ate her sandwich in silence as she walked a few paces behind Reuben down the long hallway, the only sounds being their footsteps echoing down the corridors and an occasional remark from the yellow alien as they passed doors. She'd already learned they had a Rec Room, another two laboratories, a room full of maps, a hall that led to where the captured convicts were kept, and a mess hall. After the initial panic of being in a strange place surrounded by aliens subsided, Amy had found herself overcome by a feeling of forlorn emptiness, like there was nothing at all inside her. All of her enthusiasm from that morning had been knocked out of her in one fell swoop, and much to her disappointment, Amy realized she knew this feeling – it was the same one she had every day at school.

Reuben glanced over his shoulder when he realized the girl behind him hadn't said anything. Amy had finished her sandwich, and was now walking with her arms folded across her chest, shoulders sagging and head tilted downward. He slowed down, and waited for her to catch up with him before walking beside her.

"Amy?" Amy glanced up at him, and he frowned when he saw the look on her face – small frown, eyebrows furrowed, and depressed puppy-eyes that only looked bigger and sadder behind her glasses. He wanted to say something, maybe help her out of the funk she was in. "Hey, chin up, a'right? Y'know what they say about hitting rock bottom? It can only get better from here." He said, and smiled at her. After a moment, Amy smiled back. It was a tiny smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"… Thanks," she whispered, and Reuben nodded. Then, he glanced up ahead of them.

"This is the entrance to the front deck. Word of warning – the captain's a big fella, but you don't have to be afraid of him. Unless, of course, you're a bad guy, but that's another story. Just don't pass out when ya seem him. He hates that."

"Pass out?" Amy asked as the door slid open. Reuben nodded, and walked in. A moment passed before Amy followed, and quickly had every doubt in her mind that she was not on Earth wiped from her mind.

The first thing she saw was the front window, and the stretch of thick blackness, littered with flecks of light and color that were distant stars and planets, that could be seen from behind the think glass. She had never seen a lot of stars in the same place at once, and she had to blink to convince herself she wasn't seeing things. The front of the ship had what looked like a very long computer filled with lights and switches, with two monitors being watched by a pair of aliens in matching black uniforms. At the center of the room was the captain's chair, which was bigger than Amy. Then she saw the one sitting in it…

The figure sitting in the captain's chair glanced over his shoulder, and Amy went rigid when she felt his gaze lock on her. He stood up, and walked around the side of the chair until he stood a few feet directly in front of them, looming over Reuben and Amy at around 20 feet of what looked like pure muscle wrapped in a black captain's uniform. The only thing Amy could think as she stared with widened eyes and small pupils at the giant shark-alien was _Don't faint, don't faint, don't faint._

The captain crossed his arms as he looked down at Amy, who was paralyzed, and Reuben, who seemed perfectly relaxed, hands in pockets.

"You're here." He said, and Amy recognized his voice as the one she'd heard on the intercom system. "I am Gantu, captain of the Galactic Armada. Welcome aboard." He turned his head to look at Reuben. "You've already met my Galley Officer, who is once again neglecting to wear his uniform."

"This is black, isn't it?" Reuben gestured to his tank shirt and cargo pants, "The uniform's uncomfortable. And I'm wearing the belt and badge, so I don't see what the big deal is," he added as he shrugged.

"That isn't my point, it's… never mind, I have other things to worry about." Gantu said, pinching the space between his… eyebrows? The middle of his forehead, that was it. "We're already on course for Planet Turo, and once we get there, the Grand Councilwoman will decide what to do about – is she alright?" He looked at Amy, who realized she was still staring at him. She blinked a couple of times before her eyes went back to normal, and nodded. "Good. We should arrive shortly. In the meantime, we can focus on - "

"Planet Turo approaching, sir," one of the two sitting at the large computer said, and Gantu turned around. "Excellent." He returned to his seat and pressed a few buttons that were on the table next to him. "Requesting permission to land."

"Permission granted," an automated voice answered after a moment. Gantu nodded to the other two, who proceeded to command the machine to land as Reuben started walking away. It took Amy a moment to notice.

"Wait - "

"We should head to the front as soon as possible, don't want to keep the Grand Councilwoman waiting." Reuben glanced over his shoulder. "You coming, Amy?" Amy nodded, and glanced at the incoming planet through the front window one more time before following him out of the control room.


	7. Chapter 7: Welcome to SurReality

Chapter 7: Welcome to (Sur)Reality

Amy followed behind Reuben as he stepped off the ship, and stopped. The entrance to… this place, was huge. The door towered over _Gantu, _who was walking in front of them, and Amy wondered as she looked up at it if this was what it felt like to be the size of a chameleon or other small animal. A moment passed before she shook it off, and started walking again in order to catch up with Reuben, who had gotten a good distance ahead of her.

Amy noticed as she walked that something seemed… off. Ever since one of the agents had called it to her attention that she had made it to the office in an unusually short amount of time, Amy had been checking to see how long it took her to walk from one place to another. Sure enough, she covered the distance between herself and Reuben in less than ten seconds, when it should have taken her at least twenty. She had never noticed how quickly she walked before – to her, it was just normal walking speed, the same speed she'd been going all her life. It didn't make sense…but then, the second half of this entire day didn't make much sense.

The hallways were very long, and, as Amy noticed when a misstep almost sent her over the edge, very narrow. The area around them had no floor she could discern, and seemed to go down forever. Amy found herself slowing down, out constantly glancing down to make sure she didn't step too close to the edge. She hated to imagine what would happen if she did…

"We're here," Reuben said and Amy looked up. They were standing in front of another pair of doors, these much less ominous from the earlier ones. Even so, Amy felt herself make an involuntary swallow as they opened, and the three walked in with the doors shutting behind them.

The only thing in the large room was a desk, a chair, and an alien sitting in it. She had an air of dignity to her that was almost regal, and Amy suddenly felt very drab and underdressed in her slightly worn skirt and spitball-stained, horribly creased blouse.

"Captain Gantu," she began, and Gantu stood to attention. "I take it the mission was a success?"

"Yes, your Honor. We have managed to find the genetic experiment and safely bring her to planet Turo." Genetic experiment… they were talking about _her. _Amy had to hold out a sigh. Genetic experiment… that sounded so alien, so inhuman.

"This is her, then?" The Grand Councilwoman asked, turning to look at Amy, who almost instinctively stood up straighter, clasping her hands behind her back.

"Y-yes, your Honor," Amy started, uncertain of what to say, "I'm her. I mean, I'm Amy. It's… it's an honor to meet you - "

"Calm yourself, child," the Grand Councilwoman cut her off, "There is no reason to panic. You have been through a great deal of change in a short amount of time. I understand you are very confused." Amy sighed, shoulders sagging in embarrassment.

"Yes, your Honor."

"Now then," the Grand Councilwoman continued, "Doctor Jumba Jookiba has already determined that it is in fact safe for you to be amongst others without bringing them harm. However, that still does not tell us what you are capable of," She looked at Amy, "Perhaps you can shed some light on the subject? What talents do you possess?"

Amy shifted uncomfortably. "Honestly, your Honor… I don't know. I didn't even know I even had – or might have – powers until earlier today. … I can move unusually fast for a human, but that's about it…"

"Is that so?" the Councilwoman responded, and was about to say something else when there was a knock on the doors. Everyone turned to look at the doors. The Grand Councilwoman frowned. "Enter."

The doors opened, and Jumba walked into the room, carrying a mass of rolled-up papers under one hand, and even more in the other. The Grand Councilwoman frowned as they all watched him struggle to keep them all in his grip, leaving a trail as he made his way over to the desk.

"Grand Councilwoman, I, evil genius Jumba Jookiba, have made startling find on our genetically engineered white-haired girl. You see," he said as he held up the edge of one scroll that unrolled downward, showing statistics and charts, "white-haired girl has great genetic variety. My findings say she should be capable of many different talents, from super speed to jumping over 20 feet in air to mind-reading. But something is stopping DNA from working properly."

Amy blinked in confusion. "What are… what are you talking about?"

"Yes," the Grand Councilwoman added, "What _are _you talking about?"

"You see," he continued, dropping a great deal of scrolls as he pulled out a second one and unrolled it, depicting a magnified image of an enlarged blood cell, "white-haired girl's DNA is stable, and information to create amino acids is successfully retrieved by RNA. However," he pointed at a small blob inside the cell, "I have discovered strange virus-like nano-objects invading blood cells and tampering with RNA and causing amino acids to mutate into normal, human amino acids and therefore stopping processing of genetic instruction before it can exit nuclei of cells, and is occurring in ALL cells in bloodstream. Jumba has never seen anything like it." He rolled up the scroll.

"… What?" Gantu said after a moment.

"He said there's something inside of Amy's blood that's getting into her cells…" Reuben began.

"…And messing with the instructions in my DNA that should give me alien powers," Amy finished. All four looked at her.

"You actually understood that?" Gantu asked in disbelief. Amy nodded, then suddenly realized that everyone was looking at her.

"Y-yeah… we learned about RNA and cell structure in 10th grade Biology. No big deal…"

Gantu looked at Reuben. "And how did YOU understand that?"

"I'm a genius, remember? Designed to think faster than a supercomputer? Or has five years of calling me Reuben made you forget that I'm still Experiment 625?"

"But that is not all Jumba found," the scientist interjected, "I have made other discovery about white-haired girl."

"Well," the Grand Councilwoman said, "What is it?"

"Is very interesting, you see…"


	8. Chapter 8: Catatonia and More Exposition

Chapter 8: Catatonia and Exposition

"You see," Jumba began, "White-haired girl possesses very strange trait, one she is using right now without realizing," He looked at Amy as he rooted through his papers. "Are you, by chance, often the target of isolation and much teasing from peers?"

Amy turned her head to face the ground and nodded. _Teasing, isolation, hair-pulling, name-calling… abandonment… _that last one made her bite her lip. _I don't understand… Dad… I cared about you… _After everything that had happened at once, Amy had almost forgotten… _he said I was a disappointment… Dad…_

Amy tried to shake herself out of it as Jumba continued. "Now, if Jumba is correct, as this is still just a theory, white-haired girl possesses some suppressed mental-communication ability which is mostly suppressed by our strange nano-objects. However, not all of power is suppressed, and ends up radiated around to peers. Energy is weak, and takes form of thoughts about white-haired girl – very distracting," Jumba continued, and Amy nodded. She was listening to him, now, if only to keep her mind off of what had happened earlier that day. "Theory is that peers have gained some of bullying behavior from subconscious desire to drive white-haired girl away so that brain can re-focus attention on what it was thinking about before. Behavior becomes habit, and before long white-haired girl is primary target of the negative impulses of peers – target of frustration and dislike. Considering fact that white-haired girl is also very shy and awkward, bullying comes as no surprise. Unfortunate, yes, but there you go." He continued talking as he started picking up his papers. "Coupled with white-haired girl's status as unregistered experiment and fact that all record of her existence on Earth being destroyed, is fairly obvious that -"

"Wait," Amy cut in, "what was that last part?"

"He said," the Grand Councilwoman said, and Amy turned to face her with a furrowed brow, "that we have had to remove any trace of your existence from Earth's records. As of a few hours ago, you never existed. We have gone through with this procedure in order to ensure that no complications arise from the fact that you have quite literally vanished off of the face of the planet. I'm sure you understa- " _Thud. _"Doctor Jumba, what is she doing?"

"Looks like blue-screening, as little girl and 626 call it. Very common in humans when receiving unexpected information, but I have never seen one just fall to knees like that."

Amy didn't respond, but simply sat there, staring at nothing with a blank expression in her eyes, mouth shut. Their continued conversation blurred into incoherence to her ears, and the words _you never existed _echoed numbly inside her mind. Everything seemed far away and empty, and the world around her seemed to blur into incoherence. Nothing was real – nothing could touch her, reach out to her, and pull her out of it. She was trapped…

Amy felt a hand on her shoulder, and the world instantly snapped back into place. Nobody was in front of her, and she turned to see whose hand had pulled her back into reality, and saw Reuben kneeling down next to her, a concerned expression on his face.

Reuben glanced at Jumba. "Hey, either of you got any more-life shattering information left? 'Cuz I don't think she can handle much more."

"No," Jumba said, "not much else has been found in test results. Until source of bizarre objects can be identified, I cannot conclude anything else."

"Good," Reuben responded, and turned back to Amy. "Hey, are you alright?" Amy stared at him for a moment before slowly shaking her head, the blank expression remaining plastered on her face "Ah, blitznak. You guys broke her."

"She will have to recover," the Grand Councilwoman said. "If we are to figure out what should be done about her. An unregistered genetic experiment is a complicated problem, and we do not know what the safest course of action is yet."

"All due respect, you talk about her like she's not sitting right here." Reuben looked back at Amy. "Not that she seems to really care right now…" He stood up, offering Amy his hand. She looked at it, and blinked before shaking her head a bit. That seemed to help a little – she took his hand and stood up, but she still looked a little shocked.

The Grand Councilwoman was about to say something when there was another knock on the door. "Enter."

Agent Crystal Venom walked into the room with a calm, serious expression, and quickly approached the desk. "Grand Councilwoman, we have finished deleting the files on the girl, as you requested. Amy Johnson no longer officially exists on Earth."

"She's right here!" Reuben protested. Venom ignored him.

"There is another matter to attend to."


	9. Chapter 9: A Mission, a Mirror, a Meal

Chapter 9: A Mission, a Mirror, A Meal

Amy stepped back onto the ship with somewhat better grip on reality. The other matter that Venom had mentioned turned out to be what they were going to do about Amy. The way the agent had said that was unsettling. "Do about her", like she was an obstacle to be removed or a problem to be dealt with. The Grand Councilwoman had decided that until they found a place to relocate her, she was to stay on the ship in one of the empty quarters. As she approached the ship, Amy looked up at it, taking the whole thing in.

_Welcome home, _she thought to herself, but it sounded empty and hollow, like a false promise. This wasn't home. She wasn't even sure what home meant anymore.

Amy stopped as soon as she was completely inside the ship, and turned around. Reuben was helping Jumba carry some of the many rolls of paper, and the two were talking about something Amy couldn't decipher. The exchange became more coherent as they approached the ship.

"… And that is why studies on objects are inconclusive. Without potential source, is hard to know if thing is virus or something else."

"But don't you have any idea? The poor girl's already been through enough in one day, and now you go and put the idea that she may have some freaky blood virus - that's tampering with her DNA - in her head? That's practically a death sentence on Earth, you of all people should know that."

"I never said was virus. I said I do not know what objects were, or why they were in bloodstream. They do not seem deadly, merely peculiar, like a cap on power. Is not same thing as virus."

"I didn't hear you say that back in the Grand Councilwoman's office."

"Then I will make clarification when I call white-haired girl in for more – speak of white-haired girl, and there she is." Jumba said as he looked up and saw Amy. She was leaning against the doorway, gaze cast to the ground with a thoughtful expression. "Seems to have a lot on her mind. I will speak to her later," Jumba remarked, and walked off, while Reuben stopped and looked at her for a moment.

"You okay, sister? I now it musta been a rough day." Reuben said, and Amy looked at him before nodding.

"Yes…" She murmured. "Just... trying to think."

Reuben nodded. "Yeah, I'll bet. Just so ya know, dinner's at the mess hall in an hour. There's a pretty big menu, so I don't think you'll have to worry about not being able to eat anything." He was met with silence as Amy's gaze returned to the ground. He frowned a bit. _Poor girl must be exhausted. _However, he started walking back to the front of the ship. Then, something occurred to him. "Hey!" He called over his shoulder, and Amy turned slightly to look at him. "Don't forget what I said earlier! It can only get better from here!" Amy stared for a moment, before giving a small nod, and ghost of a smile, much like the one he'd seen earlier.

"…Thank you."

As it turned out, the ship had no empty quarters available. The only room with any vacancy was a recruit's sleeping quarters, which had an extra bunk that the recruit didn't use. Amy was getting a roommate.

_Maybe she'll be nice. Maybe we'll be friends. Maybe this won't turn out to be a disaster. _They were empty hopes, happy nothings that Amy thought to herself in a futile attempt to cheer herself up after the day's events. The halls echoed with the sound of her shoes against the floor as she navigated through the large ship. She found the right door after about ten minutes of walking, and punched the code that the captain had given her into the number pad on the side of the doorway. The door slid open, and Amy cautiously peered inside.

There was nobody inside. The recruit must have been out on duty. Amy stepped inside of the room, clinging to the handle of her suitcase with both hands. The walls of the room were the same gray metal as everything else in the room, and the "bunks" were actually two steel sheets that hung from the side of the wall via hinges, with mattresses on top. Amy tested the bottom mattress with her hand – it seemed comfy enough, but by no means was it one of those space-foam beds she kept seeing billboards advertising back on Earth.

Amy set down her suitcase before sitting on the bed and looking around the room for a moment. The walls had a few pictures of different places taped on them, and there was a chair in one corner. It felt almost like a cabin at sleep-away camp. Robot sleep-away camp.

Amy stood up after she decided there was nothing of interest to be seen, except the photos. As she turned back to the door, she saw on the one wall she hadn't looked at the only thing that could have made her more uncomfortable than she already was – a full-length mirror.

Amy shifted uncomfortably as she looked at her reflection. She had never thought of herself as exceptionally attractive, and after today's events she felt particularly self-conscious. She made a futile attempt to straighten out her blouse, which was still covered in spit-ball stains, and her skirt was wrinkled from lying on the cot in Jumba's lab for several hours.

Amy's clothes hung awkwardly on her skinny frame, and her skirt did little to compliment her long, bony legs. Everything about her was awkward and skinny – her neck, her arms, and even her torso – she was bony and underweight, with no attractive curves to her form. The only thing about her that wasn't skinny was her head, and in comparison to her scrawny frame it looked… well… alien. Amy had no idea why she was so underweight in the first place – it wasn't as if she starved herself or had any other eating problems. She shook her head, and left the room. She'd never really been very fond of mirrors.

The mess hall was surprisingly large, and had a number of tables that were flocked with aliens of different shapes and sizes – an extraterrestrial school cafeteria. Amy quickly found the food line, and was relieved to find that, among all of the dishes that looked unnatural or were still moving, they served Earth chicken noodle soup. She poured herself a bowl and went to look for a seat.

This place really was just like an Earth cafeteria – people were seated at their own tables in little cliques, close friends sat next to each other, and everybody was talking. Amy found her own spot with little trouble – the empty table at the back of the room. She sat in the middle seat, and took a spoonful of soup, blowing off the steam before tasting it. It was good – better than school food, at least.

"Ya plan on sittin' here by yourself?" Amy looked up, and saw Reuben standing on the other side of the table. Amy nodded. Reuben frowned. "It's not like anybody here's gonna try to eat ya. Well, maybe Ted." Reuben laughed, but stopped when he saw Amy's eyes widen. "Sorry, that was supposed to be a joke. Nobody's gonna eat ya." He sat down in the chair across from her. "Besides, sitting by yourself never got anybody any friends, did it?" She shook her head.

"Aren't… you going to sit with your friends?" She asked, glancing down at the bowl of soup.

"Me? Nah. I usually sit with the captain, but he's eating at the front again." Amy nodded. "Hey, are you okay? You've barely said a word since you got on the ship." Amy nodded.

"I'm… not very good at talking to people," Amy admitted. "I never really had anybody to talk to… so I guess I never learned."

"You're talking now, aren't you? It's not that hard. Just pick a topic and you should be good to go." Reuben said, taking a bite out of his… something sandwich. "Talk about something you like."

"Like what?"

"A book, a TV show, anything. Find something you can talk about, and the conversation will take care of itself. See, we've already been talking for a few minutes. Pick something. I'm listening."

Amy looked up at Reuben. "Have… you ever read _A Wrinkle in Time?_" She asked shyly. Reuben smiled.

"I've heard of it. What's it about?"


	10. Chapter 10: Roommates

Chapter 10: Roommates and Midnight Writing

Amy walked back to the room she was staying in feeling a little better. She had ended up talking to Reuben for over an hour before he'd gotten called back to the front of the ship, and she'd been surprised at how easy talking to somebody actually was. She'd gushed about her favorite book until Reuben admitted he knew nothing about it, but it seemed interesting. He'd talked about his adventures as Galley Officer – chasing intergalactic bad guys, discovering new planets, and making more than enough sarcastic quips along the way. In fact, only one thing had really bothered her…

_"Aren't ya going to finish eating that?" Reuben asked as Amy put her spoon down._

_ "I couldn't eat another bite, really. I'm already starting to feel a bit sick," Amy responded, looking down at the bowl. She'd eaten a lot of it, hadn't she?_

_ "You've only eaten half of it. Are ya feeling alright?" Reuben frowned as he looked at the bowl. It wasn't even that big a bowl to begin with – about the size of a cereal bowl. Amy nodded._

_ "I feel fine. I guess I just don't have that big of an appetite."_

_ "Amy, take it from somebody who knows – not eating enough is just as bad as eating too much. If ya really are full already, I think ya may wanna talk to Jumba. Not eating enough can cause all kinds of problems."_

_ "I take a multivitamin, so shouldn't that be enough?"_

_ Reuben shook his head. "Doesn't replace food. Seriously, just talk to Jumba. He may be crazy, but he's still a doctor. If he says you're fine, then don't worry about it."_

It had been at that point that the intercom had turned on, and told Reuben to return to the front of the ship. Amy clutched her stomach as she walked – now she felt queasy. After Reuben left, Amy ended up eating the rest of the soup, and found that she was having trouble keeping it down. It wasn't even that much soup – what in the world was going on with her?

Amy approached the door and punched in the passcode to the room feeling like she was close to throwing up, but the feeling was quickly replaced with panic as the door slid open and she was met with her roommate's gaze.

If Reuben towered over Amy, then this girl towered over Reuben. She looked to be about six feet tall, with long, lean limbs that were toned with muscle and accented scale-like caps on her elbows, knees, and fingernails, which were a very dark gray and shone blue in the fluorescent light. She had skin that was a very pale shade of yellow, and short black hair, with two yellow streaks framing her face as bangs. Her arms were folded across her chest, and from the look of her Amy had absolutely no doubt that this girl could easily snap the human girl in half.

"So," the girl said, "you're the human I was told about?" Her blue eyes glinted as she said "human", and as she talked Amy saw that she had very white teeth, with _very _sharpcanines.

"Y-yuh-yuh…" Amy struggled to muster up enough coherence to answer. "…Yes."

Amy felt her heart stop as the girl bent over so that they were face-to-face, with Amy still having to crane her neck to loo her roommate in the eye. Without warning, the girl lifted Amy up in a crushing grip, and it took a moment to register that she was being hugged.

"Well it's about time! I was starting to go crazy without anybody to talk to!" The alien exclaimed as Amy tried to catch her breath. "Welcome aboard! My name is Asonjadoni, but you can call me Sonja!" She set Amy down before spinning around and walking back into the room. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get in here!" Amy shook herself out of her paralyzing panic and ran into the room before the door could slide shut in front of her.

"N-nice to meet you…" Amy mumbled as Sonja walked over to the dresser on the opposite side of the room. "I'm Amy."

"Nice to meet you too, Am- Amy? Huh, that's a weird name." She opened the bottom drawer. "You can put your stuff in here, just so ya know. I never use it." She shut it again, and stood up. Now that Amy saw her in the light, Sonja looked much more… cartoonish. Her entire body was very angular, and she had very large blue eyes that had several black lines through the pupils to form eight-pronged star shapes that were centered on her pupils. She also had two long, thin antennae, like an insect. As Amy walked over to the dresser, Sonja stood up and looked her over. "You sure are small. I heard humans were short, but I had no idea you'd be this short. It's like you're miniature!"

"Y-yeah…" Amy muttered, looking up at Sonja, who was now smiling from ear to ear. Even though she seemed less threatening, Amy couldn't help but feel a bit cowed in her presence.

"I mean, you're _really _small. I've seen pictures of humans before, and they usually aren't so… skinny."

"I know… I'm underweight…" She muttered. "Can… we talk about something else, maybe?"

"Oh, sure! This is going to be so much fun, just you wait! We're gonna be best friends!" Sonja said, before spotting the clock. "Whoo! Look at the time! I'm gonna get some shut-eye." With that, she jumped onto the higher bunk and pulled the covers over herself. "See ya in the morning, roomie!"

Amy stared at her in disbelief for a moment, trying to register what had just happened. After the initial shock passed, she shook her head and started unpacking her suitcase, setting aside a nightgown as she put away her blouses, skirts, books, and everything else she'd packed. She set her multivitamin jar on top of the dresser, and slid her suitcase under the dresser when she'd unpacked everything. Amy slipped on her nightgown – a simple garment that hung on her like a child's bed-sheet ghost costume – and folded up her dirty uniform, setting it on the opposite side of the drawer from her clean outfits. She pulled her hair out of its pigtails, and set the rubber bands next to the multivitamins. She pulled out her journal and a pen, and shut the drawer before approaching the bed and lying down on her stomach, propping herself up with her elbow. She opened her journal and turned to the first blank age she could find.

_I honestly don't know where to start, _she began in dark blue ink. _Nothing today has gone as I had hoped, and I'm still not entirely sure if all of this is really happening. Part of me wants to believe I'm dreaming and it's still the night before the last day of school, but I doubt my brain could concoct all of this in my sleep. I feel… I don't know. It's a mix of sad and terrified and apprehensive, but mostly, I feel lost. I'm probably light-years away from Earth by now, and I can never go back. That's a scary thought – I guess this is what they mean when they say you can't go home again._

_ So much has happened in the past few hours, I can still feel my head spinning. I've been taken away from my home planet, knocked unconscious, experimented on, talked about, and otherwise completely discombobulated. I guess the best I can hope for now is that I won't end up living my old life of solitude… IN SPACE!_

_ Okay. I'm tired. Good night, journal._

Amy shut the journal and secured the little latch on it, before removing the key and hiding it under her pillow. She took off her glasses, folding them and setting them on a small table in front of her bed, and allowed darkness to wash away the day's events.


	11. Chapter 11: NotSoSweet Dreams

Chapter 11: Not-So-Sweet Dreams and Waking Up in Space

_Ah, the beach. Sun, sand, and surf… this was great. It would have been even better if Amy could find somebody to talk to, but for now, she was content to simply sit on one of the large rocks between sea and shore, allowing her feet to be splashed by cold sea foam as she enjoyed her small chocolate shake._

_ Amy watched as her parents played volleyball with several other beachgoers. It was nice to see her dad so relaxed – he spent so much time working, he deserved to take a break. And her mother was laughing as she stumbled around and tripped over sand while attempting to hit the ball – clumsiness must have run in the family. Amy smiled to herself, and turned her attention to the ocean. It was so calm and peaceful, with only a few small waves crashing against the shore – today could not have been more perfect._

_ Amy saw something on the horizon. It was slowly approaching, but it was hard to tell what it was. As she leaned closer, a wind started picking up, blowing her hair into her face. As she brushed it aside, the thing got closer – it looked like some sort of funnel, riding along the water…_

_ "HURRICANE!" One of the lifeguards yelled, and everybody began scrambling to get away. The sky rapidly darkened as the storm picked up, and Amy found that the wind was nearly impossible to move against. As she struggled to get off of the rock, her glasses were ripped off of her face and the water violently crashed around her, clutching at her ankles and trying to drag her in. Everything was gray and blurry, and Amy had no idea where land was. She looked around in a panic, desperately trying to make sense of everything with her foggy vision, when one last gust of wind sent her off of the rock and tumbling into the ocean._

_ The water seemed deeper than it should have been, and refused to let go of its catch. As Amy struggled to swim to the surface, the water around her seemed to tighten, forcing her further and further into the darkness. Each futile grasp for the air above pulled her further and further down, and everything went black as the last bit of breath escaped her lungs…_

Amy shot up from the cot with a gasp, and her head banged against the bunk above her. As she rubbed her new wound, she used her free hand to retrieve her glasses from the small table. Dual waves of relief and disappointment washed over her as she realized where she was. _No luck, _she thought to herself as she climbed out of her bunk, _it wasn't just a dream. I'm still technically an alien. _As she stood up, she glanced at the bunk above her and realized it was empty. Sonja must have already woken up and started her day. Amy walked over to the dresser, and found a note stuck on the front of her drawer.

_Hey, roomie! I'm already at the mess hall, ya might wanna hurry so all the food doesn't get eaten! See ya at breakfast! ~ Sonja_

Amy sighed, and opened the drawer. She selected a button-down white blouse and knee-length pleated black skirt, and quickly changed out of her pajamas. After running a brush through her hair and tying it up into the same heart-buns with pigtails that came down to her hips, Amy smoothed out a wrinkle in her skirt and ran out of the room. All she could hope was that they had Earth waffles.


	12. Chapter 12: Breakfast

Chapter 12: Breakfast and Other Adventures

Cereal wasn't exactly waffles, but it was satisfactory. Amy was relieved to discover they were serving Cherrios, and took a small bowl with 2% milk. After grabbing a spoon and a glass of orange juice to go with it, Amy returned to the table she'd sat at yesterday. It was still empty. Amy took the same spot she had the night before, and began eating her cereal.

"Hey, roomie!" Amy almost choked on her spoon as she jumped in surprise. Sonja had practically materialized next to her without warning, and sat down next to Amy, setting her tray full of strange breakfast foods down on the table as she did. Amy somehow managed not to swallow her spoon and safely remove it from her mouth, though not before she came dangerously close to finding out what it felt like to digest metal. She turned to face Sonja, who was grinning from ear to ear as she put salt on her… alien… toast? What? "I see you're finally awake. About time, too, I've been up for an hour!"

"Eating?" Amy asked in disbelief.

"Nope! I was busy doing my morning workout in the gym. Needed to work up my appetite. Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day!" Sonja took a large bite of her own breakfast, and Amy turned her attention back to her own cereal.

_Grrrurgh… _Amy clutched her stomach as it let out a growl. She suddenly felt like she was starving, and took a big spoonful of Cherrios to quell the grumbling. It wasn't enough. _That's weird… _Amy thought, _I'm not normally this hungry in the morning… _She too another bite, but found that it also did nothing. Another bite produced only slightly more satisfying results, and she was still hungry by the time she'd finished the entire dish, milk and all. Amy shook her head in confusion, and stood up, walking back to the food line.

Sonja watched in mild fascination as Amy came back with another bowl of cereal and an apple, a perplexed expression on her face. "Is… something wrong?"

Amy said nothing, but peeled the apple with the knife she'd brought with her, taking a large bite into it. She furrowed her brow after she swallowed it, before taking another large bite, until she'd devoured everything but the core. Amy turned her attention to the cereal.

"Roomie?"

"Why am I so hungry?" Amy asked to nobody in particular, before devouring the cereal, spoonful by meditated spoonful. She shook her head when she finished the second bowl – she was _still _hungry.

"Amy?" Sonja murmured, a twinge of worry in her voice. "Are okay?"

Amy shook her head. Not only was she hungry, but her head was starting to hurt... _Oh, yeah, I forgot to take my multivitamin this morning… _She stood up. "…I'll be right back," she muttered, grabbing the glass of orange juice and power-walking out of the mess hall.

Amy's headache seemed to intensify as she got closer to the room, and had reached the point that she felt like the inside of her skull was going to burst when she got to her room. She attempted to punch in the number code, and failed, before getting it right the second time and running into the room. She practically ran over to the dresser – now she could only hear a dull roar in her mind – and set the glass of orange juice down.

Her hand was shaking from being unable to concentrate, and a small amount of the liquid spilled onto the dresser. She ignored the spilt juice and reached for her multivitamin jar, opening it and grabbing a pill from the top, failing to notice that she'd spilt one from the side. She threw her head back and swallowed the pill, and stumbled over to the cot. After a moment, the headache eased up, and Amy shook off what little of it remained before standing up, shutting the jar, and drinking the orange juice that remained in the glass, before leaving the room.

She failed to notice the multivitamin that had fallen out, slowly bubbling and dissolving in the puddle of orange juice.


	13. Chapter 13: A Sudden Change in POV

Chapter 13: A Sudden Shift in POV

Reuben sighed as he went through the computer's files. Humans always complained about paperwork – they had no idea how annoying the digital equivalent could really be. Having another passenger on the ship meant recalculating the amount of power they used, the food rationing, how effective the ship could be with the extra weight – and, with the crew member whose job it was to take care of this stuff sick in the infirmary, Reuben had to make sense of this technical mumbo-jumbo.

_That blubber-butt Gantu is darn lucky I actually understand all of this, _Reuben thought to himself as he ran through the files, editing numbers and recalculating fuel usage, _'Cuz if I didn't, we'd all be in trouble._ He hit the ENTER button on one of the controls, and watched as the computer interpreted the three hours' worth of work he'd just typed, changed, and calculated, before giving him the message DATA SAVED and a smiley emoticon. _A smiley? Honestly, whatever 12-year-old is hacking this computer has got to come up with more creative pranks…_

Reuben sighed, and turned to one of the smaller computers, tapping one of the icons to run a security check. While the jokes he'd seen from the computer thus far had been relatively cute and harmless, he didn't want to risk any important files being tampered with, or worse, leaked to just about anyone in the galaxy. As he watched the computer scan each of the files, his communicator rang.

_Who in the world…? _Reuben answered the cellular video-phone device. "Hello?"

"Aloha! Ahaha!" The blue koala-alien he called cousin appeared on the screen, accompanied by a Hawaiian ten-year-old holding a green voodoo-doll and grinning.

"Hi, Reuben!" Lilo said, with her typical perkiness. Five years, and hardly anything had changed…

Reuben sighed. "What're you guys calling me for?"

"We heard about the new girl from Pleakley! He wouldn't tell us anything besides that she'd be staying on the ship, though. So…" the two stared at him with dual puppy-eyes and wide grins.

"That's classified information. You know I can't just tell you about this stuff!"

"What's her name?" Lilo asked, smiling wider, batting her eyelashes. She had to be taking lessons on this stuff from Nani, Reuben was sure of it.

Reuben sighed. "Amy."

"Ooooh…" Uh-oh, Stitch was getting that mischievous look again… "Issa boojiboo?"

"Wh-what?" Reuben sputtered, arching his eyebrow. "No, she is not my "boo-ji-boo", thank you! I barely know the girl!"

Stitch laughed. "Issa boo-ji-boo! Cousin tay boo-ji - "

"Stop that!" Reuben yelled. "You shouldn't even be talking to me on this contact? How did you get my number?"

"I found it in the main computer," Lilo responded. "Didja like the smiley face?"

"Lilo!" Nani called from downstairs. "Come here!"

"Uh-oh, she found the lawn chair. Gotta go!" Lilo said.

"No, wait! You were the ones who - " Reuben stopped as she screen went black. " – Hacked the ship's computer. Ah, blitznak. … And she's not my girlfriend!"


	14. Chapter 14: Turo, We Have a Problem

Chapter 14: Turo, We Have a Problem

Reuben grumbled to himself as the doors to the main deck slid open and he stepped in. Those two mischief-makers were going to get him in a heap of trouble one of these days, and he could only begin to imagine what other surprises they'd hidden for the crew on the main computer…

"There you are," Gantu said as Reuben walked over. "I'm guessing the computer files have been re-organized?"

"Yeah, and we need a new security system. The one we got going could be hacked by a ten-year-old. Oh, wait – it WAS hacked by a ten-year old," Reuben said, sitting down next to one of the computer screens. "Honestly, it's been five years, and even when we're on the same side, those two won't get out of our hair. Well, my hair," he smirked, raising an eyebrow while Gantu glared at him. Gantu's annoyance changed to alarm as he realized what Reuben had just said.

"Lilo hacked into our computer? Why would she do something like that?"

"Practical jokes, smiley faces – the kid's ten, remember? It's not like she's out to get us. But what bothers me is that she was able to in the first place. For the third time, she's ten. If a ten-year-old can get into our main computer and play jokes…"

"…Imagine what an actual hacker can do," Gantu finished. "We need a new security system before anybody figures that out." He turned to one of the others. "Begin reinforcing the computer's security system."

"Aye-aye, sir."

"Excellent." Gantu returned his attention to Reuben. "What is the status on the Johnson girl?"

"Her name's Amy." Reuben answered without missing a beat, and slapped his forehead when he saw Gantu smirk, realizing what he'd just done. _Not again…_

"Amy, right. I remember. So, how is Amy?" Reuben could hear the restrained laughter, the slight mockery in his tone. Gantu had been waiting for five years for something, anything, he could use against Reuben for all of the blitznak the experiment had given him back on Earth. Now, he'd found it. And even worse, _it_ was a _girl._

"From what I've been told…" Reuben started, trying to refrain from snapping "Stop mentally laughing at me!" at Gantu, "she is still getting used to being on the ship, but for the most part is emotionally stable. "

"From what you've been told," Gantu repeated, skepticism only detectable in his voice by those who knew how to listen for it. And, to his own annoyance, that meant Reuben.

"From what she told me, alright? Yes, I've talked to her, but she's been through goodness-knows-how-much trauma within the past 24 hours, and I wanted to make sure she wouldn't have a _Carrie-_style meltdown or anything."

Gantu's smirk widened. "Of course. And that's the only reason."

"First Stitch, then Lilo, and now you! Why does everybody I talk to today seem to think T- I am not going to finish that," Reuben caught himself, crossing his arms defiantly. Gantu was about to retort when the crew member he'd told to reinforce the system turned away from the computer.

'Um, Captain? An unknown file was recently downloaded to the main computer."

"What?" Gantu immediately forgot that he was annoying his Galley Officer – he turned to face the one who had spoken. "What type of file?"

"It doesn't say, sir, and when I tried to open it, it said it was already deleted. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the computer, though. Should I continue reinforcing the security?"

Gantu frowned, thinking for a moment. "… Yes," he said, "but run a thorough scan of the entire main computer first. I don't want to take any risks with this ship."

"Yes, sir."

Gantu nodded, and turned back to Reuben, who had realized his chance to run far too late. "So," Gantu said, and Reuben glared, "Just making sure she wasn't going to have a meltdown? She already has a roommate to be her friend, you know."

"Yeah, that girl Sonja? As in, the martial-arts instructor's _daughter _who drinks two cups of coffee a morning Sonja? I can only begin to imagine what she's putting the poor girl through right now!"


	15. Chapter 15: Growing Pains

Chapter 15: Growing Pains

"Oof… gah… ack!" Amy slumped over, shoulders sagging, as she failed for the fifth time in a row to lift the two 15 lb. dumbbells she held in either hand. She looked over at Sonja, who was easily lifting a pair of 50-pounders. "Are… you sure…" Amy started as she tried to lift them up by bending her arms again, "that these aren't too heavy?"

"Hm?" Sonja glanced at Amy, who was shaking from the effort of lifting the weights. "What makes you say something like that? They're the weight I used when I started my training..."

"I don't… I don't think humans are generally as… strong as your species is…" Amy grunted, somehow getting the dumbbells halfway up before the weight became too much. She slumped back over, clenching her hands tighter to keep from dropping the weights. "Ouch." The muscles in her arms were screaming in pain from the workout, and she reluctantly admitted defeat by returning the weights back to the rack she'd gotten them from. Around her, other crew members were punching weighted bags, running on treadmills, and other workouts one could find on an Earth gym. Even so, there were still many devices that were far too complicated and bizarre to be meant for human use.

Sonja returned to lifting her own weights, while Amy took a seat on one of the nearby benches. She glanced up at the clock. Almost 5 P.M. already… it had been close to 24 hours since she'd first woken up on this ship.

_And in those 24 hours, _Amy thought to herself, _I've gotten two headaches, one roommate-induced panic attack, a sudden insatiable hunger over breakfast, a nightmare, and a near-mental breakdown… and ever since my headache this morning, I've had to beeline for the bathroom twice from having to vomit I shouldn't have eaten so much breakfast. _She sighed. _I really hope Reuben is right about rock bottom… _

Amy's headache immediately returned with a vengeance. She gripped the sides of her head in a futile attempt to dull the sensation of a thousand fists inside her head, attempting to pound their way out of her skull. _I forgot to take my multivitamin again… _Amy thought to herself, and stood up, shaking.

"I'll be right back," she somehow managed to say, and Sonja turned to her slowly, but offered no response. Amy didn't wait for her to figure out what to say – her head hurt _now. _She made a beeline for the exit, and dashed towards the room.

Everybody around her seemed to be moving slowly as Amy ran down the halls, thinking _Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop… _she barely even noticed how quickly she got there. She punched in the number code, and when the door slid open she ran in so quickly that she left behind a teenage-girl-shaped residue in the air for a fleeting moment.

There was no shaking or trembling this time as she opened the bottle, but her speed caused two more to skid off in the same direction as the one she'd spilled that morning. She disregarded them, and swallowed one of the pills, shutting the bottle as the headache gradually subsided. She remembered the two she had spilled a moment before, and glanced in their direction.

"What in the…?"

The two pills were fine, but the one from that morning wasn't. It was a mess, a dissolved lump of mud-like substance that was a disgusting greenish color, laced with orange and sitting in what remained of the orange juice. Part of the pill was still intact – their simply hadn't been enough orange juice to dissolve the whole thing. Amy blinked, before opening her drawer and pulling out a plastic bag she'd packed to store shells in. Turning it inside-out, she put the bag on like a glove and picked the soggy lump off of the drawer. She pulled the bag off of her hand so that the lump was on the inside of the bag, and zipped it shut, storing the bag in a pocket on the side of her blouse.

Amy walked back into the gym to find Sonja still standing in the same spot. Sonja looked at her in confusion.

"What? Did you forget something?"

"Huh?" Amy looked at her, brow furrowing slightly. "No… I took my multivitamin…"

"But…" Sonja put down her weights and walked over. "That doesn't make sense… it's twenty minutes to the room and back. You've only been gone for a little more than ten minutes."

"I… I have?" Before the implications of what Sonja had just said sunk in, Amy's head was seized with another headache. "Ah!" This one wasn't as bad, but it was sharper and more sudden. Amy clamped her hands to her temples as the throbbing took hold, only now it was much, _much _more like pounding. It was strange, though – this headache was irregular. The pounding felt like the dying throws of something that didn't want to give up, something that was powerful but slowly weakening. Even so, it was enough for Amy to start feeling dizzy. "Sonja…" she whimpered, "help… I can't…" _THUD._

"Uh-oh," Sonja said as she looked down at Amy, who had fallen on the floor and wasn't moving. "Doctor Jumba!"


	16. Chapter 16: A Revelation, a Change

Chapter 16: A Revelation, a Change

"Ungh…" Amy shook her head as consciousness returned to her, and she became more aware that she was lying down on a cot. Her head was still slightly throbbing, and she rubbed her temples as she sat up. She opened her eyes, and was met with blurry gray – her glasses were missing. _Again._

"Ah, white-haired girl is awake. Evil genius had to draw blood while girl was asleep, and findings are _very _peculiar." Amy looked to where Jumba's voice was coming from, and could barely discern his purple form among the computers of the lab – they were all just blurry colors without her glasses. _Wait, I'm in the lab again? Why do I always wake up here instead of the infirmary when I pass out? _Jumba walked over. "Here are glasses." He handed them to her, and the room came into focus as she put them on and blinked. The computer screens all displayed different pictures of blood cells – some healthy, some filled with the same nano-objects, and some… unusual.

"What are those?" Amy asked, trying to pin down what was just so different about the strange cells. "…And why did you take my glasses? Again?"

"White-haired girl could wake up and roll over on top of them, and get glass in eyes. Not good for vision, especially with vulnerable jelly human eyeballs."

Amy chose not to respond to that. Instead, she got out of the cot, only to immediately sit back down as the throbbing intensified. It calmed down when she did. She looked around at the monitors again, staring at the strange ones. There was something… missing, from the strange cells. Something that was supposed to be inside of those cells simply wasn't. Then, it clicked.

"Why are there less of the little nano-objects in those cells?"

"Ah! Good eye, white-haired girl. You see, cells with healthier appearance are lacking in nano-object area because they are building immunity to the invasive pests. I have analyzed nano-objects isolated from blood and determined they are not naturally-occurring, as viruses are. No, these are of human design, and are getting weaker." He gestured to one of the monitors, displaying a picture of one of the nano-objects up close. "Very clever design, meant to inhibit production of certain amino acids in body. Travel exceedingly fast, and can get to whole body in less than ten seconds when entered properly."

Amy nodded, looking at the picture closely. The object was shaped like a virus, but seemed to be made of different material. It looked dead.

"Immunity-building of blood cells, and as such all body cells, is due to irregularities in the entry of our little friends." He pulled down a chart. "Objects have short lifespan, and only suppress powers for a few hours – about six or seven. According to results of studying behavior, I would say entry occurs first thing in morning when white-haired girl wakes up, and once in early afternoon. When white-haired girl is asleep powers are not active, so objects have no need to be inside body. But Jumba still cannot figure out where objects are coming from."

Amy nodded again, gazing at the pictures and thinking, trying to push past the fog inside her mind. Images flashed across her mind – the moments before she passed out, that morning, that morning… she turned to the close-up of the objects. She realized what was so odd about them.

They were red and blue.

"… the pill."

Jumba looked at Amy. "What?"

"The pill. My… my multivitamin pill. That's what…" Amy reached into her pocket and pulled out the half-dissolved pill she'd found earlier. "Doctor Jumba, could you look at this?" She handed it to him. Jumba took the bag, and dumped the little blob into a petri dish. He slid it under the microscope.

"Look at this! Thousands of objects, clustered together and squirming like worms in Earth fishing jar. This is source of objects!" He turned to Amy. "White-haired girl, where did this come from?"

"It's… the multivitamin I take twice a day. Well… part of one. It got soaked in orange juice." She looked at the picture. _All of these years… and the one thing that kept me from finding out what I was went right under my nose, because I didn't know where to look for it…_

"That explains how objects got into body in first place." Jumba frowned, thinking to himself. "Body is rejecting objects because pills are being taken at irregular rate, and reaction is occurring fast. Could cause serious medical problems if not handled carefully. …White-haired girl, could you possibly retrieve container of these pills, and bring to Jumba? Jumba is having idea on how to help adjustment go smoothly and without possible damage to DNA and rest of body…"

"Here." Jumba turned to look at the bottle Amy was holding out to him, before what had just happened sunk in.

"Ah, you see? Powers are kicking in already without medicine to monitor DNA. Super-speed is picking up. That will be the first gift white-haired girl will have to learn to control." He opened the bottle, and removed a handful of the red-and-blue capsules. He carefully laid them on one of his tables. "I will create substitute suppressor for white-haired girl using these pills, with slightly smaller dosage of suppressor each week. We will use this until white-haired girl can control powers on her own. I give prescription… four to five months. Until then, there is no way white-haired girl can leave ship."

"So I'm not going to find my new home for almost half a year?" Amy asked, shoulders sagging at the thought of spending five months inside.

"Precisely. We begin tomorrow. For now, stay on cot. Jumba needs to conduct more tests."

Amy sighed in exasperation. _Remember, it can only get better from here… it can only go up from rock bottom. So why can't I figure out which way is up?_


	17. Chapter 17: Changes

Chapter 17: Changes and Meatball Sandwiches

Amy stared at the cup in front of her. _Move, _she thought to herself. Nothing happened. _Move!_

"Um, Amy?" Reuben asked, sitting down across from her as the girl continued staring at the plastic cup filled halfway with water. Amy? It's water. Your home planet is covered in it."

"She's trying to make it move," Sonja said, watching Amy furrow her brow. "Ever since she started taking that new medicine three weeks ago, she's been trying to figure out what powers she has. She's already got the hang of super-speed." Amy said nothing, but leaned closer to the cup, stare intensifying. For a moment, it looked like nothing could break her concentration on the small glass. Reuben almost sighed in relief when she was pulled out of it by a familiar growl – her stomach. Amy glared at the cup one more time before taking a bite out of the meatball sub sandwich she had on her plate.

"I'm sure I can do it," Amy said as she glanced at the cup again. "Jumba said most of my powers were related to my brain, and I've finally gotten that weird spectral-projection that made everybody back home hate me to stop…" She shook her head. "Maybe I'm still taking too much medicine for it to work?" She looked up from her sandwich, and spotted Agent Venom walking by. _She's still on the ship? _Amy thought to herself, but quickly returned her attention to the glass, and its lack of movement.

"Either way, you're doing great so far," Reuben remarked, hoping to cheer her up a bit. She wasn't sad, but she did look troubled. "And it's nice to see you're actually finishing your food now."

"Yeah," Sonja added, "Three weeks ago you barely ate at all, and now…"

"Now I'm eating twice as much as I used to. It was a side effect of the pill – appetite suppression. And now I'm hungry all the time, because 17 years of not eating enough has caught up to me." Amy finished before biting into her sandwich again.

"You look a lot healthier," Sonja said, and Reuben nodded. It was true. Over the past three weeks, Amy's stick-like figure had filled out considerably. She was no supermodel – actually, she'd been closer to that sort of figure when she was still underweight, sans the large chest – but she had gained some much-needed meat on her bones, her legs were no longer skinny and scrawny, instead shapely and strong, and her clothes now framed and complimented the curves of her body instead of hanging awkwardly.

_Whoever said stick-skinny was attractive is an idiot, _Reuben thought to himself. _She looks fantastic. _Amy didn't notice that he was looking at her, but Sonja did, and chuckled. Reuben looked at her in confusion. "What's so funny?"

Sonja shook her head. "Oh, nothing… I remembered a joke somebody told me, that's all." She kept giggling to herself, and eventually had to cover her mouth when Amy turned to look at her as well. Sonja calmed down, and looked at the two of them again before breaking down into another fit of faint giggles. Amy raised an eyebrow at her. Reuben went back to eating his own sandwich, rolling his eyes as Sonja chuckled. Whatever she was thinking about, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"If you say so," Amy murmured, before returning to her now half-gone lunch. Her eyes shifted back to the cup. _Move. _Again, nothing happened. _Move!_

Splash!

"Ah!" Sonja jumped out of her chair before water could splash on her lap. "What in the world?"

Amy put her fist in the air, a triumphant grin on her face. "I did it!" Reuben smiled, and grabbed a paper towel to wipe up the cup's spilled contents.

None of them noticed that Venom was watching them a few tables down, a small frown on her face.


	18. Chapter 18: Epiphany

Chapter 18: An Epiphany and Ping Pong

"Stop that!" Reuben protested as the ping pong ball flew over his paddle.

"Stop what?" Amy asked as he retrieved the ball and returned to the table. The other crew members in the rec-room paid them no mind, and continued watching the bad soap opera, _The Young and the Stupid, _on TV. Reuben served the ball, and Amy quickly hit it back to him.

"Levitating the ball away from the paddle! Gah!" Reuben failed to hit it back for the fifth time that day. "See?"

"That's not me, you keep missing! Keep your eye on the ball!" Amy responded. Reuben turned to get the ball again, only for it to lift up in the air and float over to his hand, dropping into his palm. "That, however, _was _me."

"You're getting better at it, I'll admit," Reuben said while staring at the ordinary piece of plastic. "But I wouldn't start bragging about it just yet. You still haven't quite mastered it, and anybody who knows you have powers could want to use that for their own gain."

"… And then the girl gains full control of her powers and uses them to get away from the bad guy at the last possible minute. Everybody knows that plot." Amy shook her head.

"I thought you didn't watch TV." Reuben responded, raising an eyebrow. Amy nodded.

"I don't. I have another way of learning all the plots – these neat little inventions made of paper and ink. They're called books." She hit the ball again after he served it, and Reuben once again failed to hit the darn thing. "Reuben! What are you looking at that keeps distracting you?"

Reuben shrugged, and Amy rolled her eyes before looking at the ball. Reuben watched her eyes as the plastic orb lifted up into the air again – her eyes followed it, almost as if they were calling it forward. Reuben just watched her – he was vaguely aware of the energy surrounding her, following an unspoken command…

Plink.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous." Amy walked around the table and lifted the ball off of the floor. "Whatever it is you're staring at, it's getting out of hand." She walked back around. "I'm serving this time, just because you failed to catch that. And I'm aiming for your head." She hit the ball, and Reuben succeeded in hitting it back a few times before it went over Amy's shoulder and bounced against the wall, somehow ricocheting at just the correct angle to go flying out of the room. Amy started to walk out of the room after it.

"I'll get it," Reuben said, and Amy stopped walking. Reuben stepped out of the room. _What is going on with me? I can't stop looking at her… Oh, no. This can't be right. _From the calm expression Reuben wore as he scanned the hall, one would have never realized he was panicking. _This can't be right. This can't be happening… Gantu'll never let me live this down. I have a… a crush. On Amy. _He found the ball after looking for a few moments, and walked over to it, lifting it off the ground. Just a stupid plastic ball… hard to believe it had been floating a few minutes before.

Reuben walked back into the room, and took a good look at Amy. She wasn't looking back – she'd noticed a smudge on her glasses and was wiping it off with a hand-cloth she must have been keeping in her shirt pocket. He stared, trying to see if anything that could clue him in on whether or not he really did like her would happen. Nothing happened – no heart skipping a beat, no cold sweat, no trouble breathing; but he found that he couldn't look away from her. Reuben couldn't direct his attention anywhere else besides where she was, and realized he was admiring her face, her hair… had she always looked that cute, or was he imagining it?

"Reuben?" Her voice snapped him out of the trance, and he walked over. "Did you find it?" He handed her the ball. "Good. Now, try to keep your eye on the ball this time, please?"


	19. Chapter 19 Part 1: Proper Fluff At Last

Chapter 19: Proper Fluff Now, I Promise (Part 1)

It was a couple of days after the ping pong incident, and Reuben couldn't stop thinking about what he'd realized. It was… unsettling, to say the least.

He hadn't done anything dumb or embarrassing for the rest of that day (thank goodness), but that was probably due in part to the fact that he had very suddenly forgotten what he usually talked about. It was like his brain had completely blanked on him.

This wasn't one of those instances he'd read about where all he could think about was her, oh no. It wasn't even close. It was something else. Ever since that day… every time she walked into the room, his brain, and sometimes his mouth, stopped. Even if it was mid-sentence, the Galley Officer would fall silent the minute he saw her, and every part of his brain linked to communication turned off. It wasn't even that he didn't want to talk to her – it was that, with this sudden and unwelcome piece of information, he really and truly didn't know what to say.

What in the world could have equipped him for this? Romantic comedies? Sitcoms? The "awkward" barrier was always broken through some sort of life-threatening experience or romantic rival in TV Land, and aside from Thursday's Mystery Meat, there were no real life-threatening risks within the confines of the ship that Amy would actively seek out. Reuben shook his head.

_I need a distraction. _Reuben got out of the rec-room sofa and turned off the TV – he didn't want to watch a single mind-numbing second of _The Young and the Stupid. _Without a single word, he got up and left the room, walking with single-minded determination towards his own quarters.

There were two things Reuben liked about having his own room. One, obviously, was the privacy. The other was the fact that this particular room had sound-proofed walls, and he was free to blast his music as loud as he wanted.

However, today, he walked past his stereo system, CD player, and every other electric appliance in the large room. He approached his closet, and swung the doors open, kneeling down in front of a small drawer set against the ground. He punched in a passcode, and the drawer slid open. Reuben smiled to himself as the golden instrument glittered in the fluorescent light, and lifted the saxophone out of the drawer before shutting it.

He had picked up playing the sax almost accidentally – five years before, and as a means of defeating a threat to the entire galaxy, crazy as it sounded. He hadn't even planned on actually playing the darn thing – he'd been going along with the plan, and had grabbed the instrument for the sake of having something to go with the sunglasses he'd obtained. But then he'd started playing… and in an instant, it _clicked. _Forget super strength or walking on the ceiling, or, perhaps, even sandwich-making; _this_ was his gift. _This _was his special talent, the one thing in the whole galaxy he could do better than any of the other experiments.

After that day, a few weeks after becoming Galley Officer, he returned to Earth to pick up supplies for the ship, and had passed by an instrument shop with a shiny gold saxophone on the display. Better yet, it was on sale – nobody on the island wanted it. So, with some of the money he'd saved up from selling extra sandwiches back in the old days, he bought the saxophone and some sheet music, so he could actually play something besides _Aloha Oe. _

It wasn't anything special, really – a hobby, a pastime. But it was something he had, something none of the other 626 had (627 included), and he liked it. Reuben admired the instrument for a moment, before closing his eyes and beginning to play. For a moment, the worries of the world washed away, and there was nothing else besides the sound of the saxophone.


	20. Chapter 19 and half: Proper Fluff Part 2

Chapter 19: Proper Fluff Now, I Promise (Part 2)

Super speed and paperwork, as Amy discovered, did not mix well. _I don't understand why the ship needs so much paper, _she thought to herself as she picked up the rolled-up papers Jumba had asked her to bring to the front desk, _when they have computers all over the entire ship. It seems wasteful. _Regardless, Jumba insisted these papers were too important to simply send over the computer system – they had to be delivered in person.

As she reorganized the papers, a faint sound flowed into the hallway – music. Amy looked around, but saw nobody in the hallway. It was coming from another hall… Amy looked up. Whatever that sound was, it was in the floor above her.

Amy stood up slowly, listening to it. It wasn't that loud or distinct, and what she could hear was faint. Amy hesitated for a moment, weighing her options. _I could run upstairs very quickly… but at the same time, they might get annoyed if I get distracted… _her attention turned to the very small security camera staring at her from the ceiling. _Front deck it is._

The music was still going when she stepped out of the front deck around 10 minutes later, but it had changed in tone. It seemed more calm and soothing, whereas it had been more lively and confused when she'd first heard the… what instrument was that, anyway? She walked over to the elevator. _I'll just peek, _she said to herself. _Just to see what instrument it is._

Astounding. Elevator music was exactly the same as it was on Earth – annoying and far too faint for her liking. _The least they could do, _she thought to herself, _is play some actual music, like "Wait For You", or "Listen to Your Heart"… but that would be too emotional to be elevator music, wouldn't it? _Her thoughts were interrupted by the doors sliding open, and the monotonous instrumental being drowned out by the much louder, much more pleasant sounds resonating through the hall. Amy stepped out of the elevator, and began walking down the hall. _I feel like such a creeper. What can I do? Peek into somebody's room to see if that's where the music is coming fr-_

Her eyes settled on the only door that was still slightly open – looked like the mechanism to slide the door was stuck, because the door was still shaking, trying to close. Even though it was hard to tell with the sound echoing all over the large hallways, it was loudest and clearest near the door. As she approached, she saw the words etched into a plate next to the door: GALLEY OFFICER'S QUARTERS.

"…Reuben?" It was little more than a murmur. "Your radio is a bit lou-" She fell silent as she glanced through the crack in the door, and saw Reuben, eyes closed, playing on a golden instrument.

Amy quickly pulled away from the doorway, leaning against the wall. _I had no idea… that was him playing… wow, he's really good. _She felt her cheeks heating up. _What? What's happening? _She put a hand to her face. _I'm burning up… _She returned her attention to the music. _It's really smooth… what's the word? There's a word for it… opposite of cacophonic… I can't think of it. But he's really good._

Amy kept trying to remember the word she was looking for as she listened to the sound, unable to walk away. Part of her wanted to knock on the door and tell him it was jammed, but another part couldn't bear the thought of the music stopping. She glanced in again, barely looking around the corner of the doorway.

He looked… content, but that wasn't quite the right word. It wasn't happy or excited – it was a calm pleasantness, like he was completely at peace with himself. Euphoric? Maybe…

The music was slowing down, and Amy realized he about to stop playing. She quickly turned towards the elevator, and started to dash towards it. In her panic to get away before he saw her in the hall, she took one step too soon, and her other foot caught behind it, sending her to the floor.

"Oof!" Crud. Amy didn't even have time to get up before Reuben had run into the hall, sax gone. He saw her.

"Amy! You okay?" Reuben ran over as she stood up. "Need a hand?"

"No, I'm fine… ow." She looked down at the bruise forming on her knee. "That hurt."

"No kidding." Reuben glanced down, and flinched. "What were ya doing in this hallway?" Amy froze.

"Um…"

"Ya overheard me playing? It's not a big deal if ya did. I just keep the door shut because the captain complains that I'm too loud."

"Oh…" Amy felt herself at a loss for words, still staring at her knee. Her cheeks were still burning. _What is going on?_

Reuben was glad that he seemed able to talk at that moment, because Amy was being very quiet. "Hey, are ya okay?"

"Yeah… you're really good." Her cheeks grew hotter when she realized she'd said it out loud. Reuben smiled, but she didn't see it. She was suddenly terrified to look him in the eye, worried she'd make a fool of herself. "I… gotta head downstairs. Sonja's waiting." It was a white lie, but she needed to get to the elevator.

"Alright…" Reuben watched her walk over to the elevator. "Sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," Amy said, and entered the elevator, sighing with relief as the doors shut behind her. _What in the world? Do I… have a crush on Reuben?_


	21. Chapter 20: Return of the Plot

Chapter 20: The Plot Has Reappeared!

"Captain!" Reuben ran into the front deck. "A virus has been detected in the electrical appliances!"

"I now," Gantu replied, head resting on his clasped hands. "It's everywhere. I don't know where to track it from, or what it's doing. All we know is that it's in the ship."

Reuben shook his head. "So all we can do is hope it doesn't bring the ship down until we trace it?"

"Precisely."

"Then let's hope it's not too menacing."

Amy couldn't sleep. The voice in the wall was keeping her up.

It was just as crazy as it sounded. For the past week, everybody had been mentioning that they were hearing things, that computers were acting up, and there was a voice in the halls of the ship. Captain Gantu had scanned every appliance in the ship, but found nothing conclusive save signs of extra electric activity, and nobody could find a source. It travelled too fast through the electric wiring to be caught.

Whatever it was, it had an affinity for bothering people, and Amy seemed to be its favorite victim. Lights would short out while she read the book she'd bought for summer, _Skulduggery Pleasant; _it would make the treadmill she'd be running on suddenly stop working without reason; and at night, in the walls, it would whisper right in her ear, just to keep her awake.

_"You're sleepy," _it was whispering now, _"You're very sleepy…" _and every time she was almost asleep, it would shout _"Wake up!"_ into her ears.

Amy dragged herself to the breakfast table, barely able to keep her eyes open. She somehow managed to get to her seat next to Sonja before her knees gave out, and she practically fell onto the chair.

"Um…" Sonja started, looking at Amy. Her hair was loose and in disarray, eyelids sagging, slumped over, and otherwise radiated an atmosphere of exhaustion. Even the psychic energy around her seemed to convey sleepiness, and she struggled to lift her hand up enough to pick up her fork and take the first bite of breakfast – waffles. "Amy, are you okay?"

"Nn…" was the response, and Amy took a slow bite of her breakfast. "So tired… stupid ghost on the ship is keeping me awake…"

"A… ghost?"

"She means the virus that the ship got," Reuben muttered, biting into his breakfast sandwich. "it's sentient, or at least a highly intelligent form of artificial intelligence. It likes bothering people." He glanced up as the speaker called his name. "Gotta go." He got up, and left the table.

"…Euphonic," Amy said after a few moments.

"What?" Sonja looked at her in confusion.

"The word," Amy said to herself. "The one I was trying to remember. Euphonic."

"Amy, what are you talking about?'

"…I don't know."


	22. Chapter 21: Plot AND Cute

Chapter 21: Some More Cuteness and Plot

_Author's Note: Okay, writer's block is a jerk. But, after my I-Don't-Know-How-Long Hiatus, here is Chapter 21! Thanks for reading, guys!_

* * *

_Just keep walking, Amy. Just keep walking… _

Amy had never known that it was possible to be stalked by an electrical current, but here it was. The lights above her crackled with energy as she walked beneath them, and with each crackle came another whisper.

She had been putting up with this for over two weeks, now. The ghost-virus, as she called it, had taken quite a liking to Amy, and for the life of her she didn't know why.

_Clang! _

Okay, so maybe the excess psychic energy radiating around her had a lot to do with it. Amy glanced back over her shoulder at the light that had mysteriously fallen down. _I'm gonna have to see Jumba about that, _she thought to herself as she kept walking. She turned back around when she noticed that others were starting to look at the broken light bulb. _Just keep walking, Amy…_

_"Tag, you're it!" _Amy jumped as a slight shock from the wall zapped her hand, and she glared at the general area it had come from. _This is insanity, _she thought as she shook her head. _Why me?_

"Amy, wait up!" Amy turned around and saw Sonja running up to her. Amy stopped until she caught up. "Did you hear? The captain thinks that the virus that's been messing with the ship-" She stopped, and looked around before leaning over to Amy's ear and whispered "was downloaded by somebody who was already on the ship!"

Amy raised an eyebrow, and was about to respond when the wall zapped her again. _"Tag!"_ Amy shook out the static in her hand.

"Well, that would explain how it hasn't been detected by the antivirus system," Amy muttered as she rubbed her hand, "but what I want to know is why it's bothering me."

"Maybe it likes you?" Amy looked at Sonja with a raised eyebrow. "No, really! You give off psychic energy, you're smart, and you're pretty! It makes sense… why are you wearing a lab coat?"

"Jumba wanted me to help him with some of his experiments while Pleakley is sick," Amy responded, "so I'm spending today in the lab. No idea what he needs me for – he was over-charged on coffee and the only thing I could decipher was something about electricity. I think he's trying to do something about this viru- OW!"

_"TAG!"_

"That thing will not leave you alone, will it?"

"No, it really won't. Anyway, I need to get to the lab." Amy turned the corner.

"Alright, see ya at dinner!" Sonja called before skipping off to the gym. Amy shook her head in disbelief as Sonja vanished – and she wasn't even the one with super-speed. She kept walking, and punched in the code to the lab door, which slid open.

Jumba was happily mixing chemicals and muttering to himself, and failed to notice that Amy had walked in. Amy walked towards one of the tables, where a small, yellow creature was lying on his stomach. The poor thing looked sick – eyes half-lidded, tongue sticking out to the side, ears drooping. Amy frowned, and gently rubbed the top of its head. The creature turned to her, and smiled a bit.

"Doctor Jumba, who is this?" Amy asked, rubbing the creature under its chin, much to the yellow being's delight. Jumba turned around.

"Ah, is Experiment 221, also called Sparky. He is electric experiment, teleported to ship to help deal with virus. Unfortunately, 221 is under weather at the moment, and needs rest. Is about time to feed 221, actually. Amy, could you feed 221 batteries sitting on table? About four would be good, we are not wanting 221 to get ache of the stomach." He returned to his work.

"Batteries?" Amy looked up, and saw the large batteries sitting on the nearby tray. She carefully lifted four of them, before bringing them back to Sparky. He ate them slowly, one at a time, and smiled at Amy before falling asleep. Amy smiled, gently rubbing his head again. "So," she looked up at Jumba, "What did you need me for?"

"Mostly monitoring. I will be in meeting with Grand Councilwoman, and I am needing white-haired girl to be keeping an eye on lab while I am gone. 221 will be needing more batteries in half-hour." Jumba set some paperwork on the table. "And I am leaving list here for white-haired girl to retrieve certain tools and ingredients from around lab so that I may continue experiment when I return. Is that clear?"

"Aye-aye, sir."

"Good. I will be back." And Jumba walked out, with the door sliding shut behind him. Amy looked at Sparky.

"Sparky, huh? Sounds like something a five-year-old would come up with…" She walked over to where the list was. "Hm, I need two graduated cylinders, a heating plate, the Bunsen burner… sounds like the lab in a high school." She went about the lab, collecting the tools and organizing them on the desk. As she checked them off, Sparky would occasionally wake up in confusion, and she'd rub his head until he calmed down and fell asleep again. Finally, only one thing was left – the microscope. She quickly found it – on the top shelf, above her reach.

_I could try to use my powers… _Amy thought to herself as she looked at it, _but I don't want to risk breaking concentration and dropping it. Now where is the ladder? _She glanced around the room, and found a folded stepladder leaning against one of the walls. _Perfect!_

Amy frowned as the ladder wobbled from side to side. _So much for a better idea, _she mentally griped as she got to the microscope. She heard the door slide open, and heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, doc? Can ya check this sandwich I got from the cafeteria? I think it moved…" Reuben looked around in confusion at Jumba's absence. "Doc?" He walked in, and, seeing the ladder, looked up. "Amy?"

"What-ah!" Amy turned to face him, and in her surprise lost her balance, falling backward off of the ladder.


	23. Chapter 22: Ohana and Sandwiches

Chapter 22: Ohana, or Why You Should Never Eat Cafeteria Sandwiches

_What the- Am I floating?_

Amy slowly opened her eyes, and saw that she was, indeed, floating. She had managed to catch herself through telekinesis a few feet above the ground, and Reuben was standing beneath her, a relieved expression on his face.

"Nice catch," he said after a moment, "but you might wanna get down before anything else happens." She nodded, and slowly lowered herself, landing on her feet before her powers wore off and she fell to her knees. "Whoa, are you okay?" He started to kneel next to her, looking at the stunned expression on her face.

"Just… startled… I really wasn't expecting that…" Amy stood up, and looked at her hands. The microscope was still intact. Both she and Reuben sighed in relief, and Amy set the microscope down. "Done with getting all of that…"

"Ah, playing assistant, are ya? You shoulda seen Jumba when he learned Pleakley was leaving for a while, he acted like he was being robbed or something." Reuben smiled, then glanced at the sandwich he'd set down. "Don't eat that, cousin," he said to Sparky, who was sniffing it. "You're sick enough as it is."

"Cousin?" Amy looked at him in confusion. Reuben looked back at Amy, who had a furrowed brow, and smiled.

"That's right, Jumba never explained it to you, did he? You know he refers to himself as an evil genius?"

"It's hard to miss."

"Well," Reuben continued, lifting the sandwich from Sparky's path before the electric experiment could take a bite, "the reason he calls himself that is because he's created several – and by several, I mean about 629 – genetic experiments for evil purposes, from causing electrical problems to channeling your worst fear, and one couldn't do anything but bark. It was really annoying." He gestured to Sparky. "Sparky here is Experiment 221. I," he set the sandwich on another table, "Am Experiment 625, and the second-to-last officially named experiment, the last numerically being 626, also known as Stitch. Since we were all made by Jumba, we're all, by technicality, considered cousins."

Amy looked at Reuben, taking a moment to register everything he'd just said. When it sank in, she nodded, slowly.

"So…" she began, "you're telling me that there are, aside from you and Sparky, about 627 other genetically modified beings in the universe? And they're all different?"

"According to theory," Reuben shrugged. "One, called Leroy, was cloned about a thousand times, and another, Experiment 628, was never activated. And I have no idea what happened to 627. But yeah, there are a lot of us. And…" something in his eyes lit up as a thought occurred to him, "now that I think about it, considering you were made using some of Jumba's stolen DNA samples…"

"Ohana!" Sparky suddenly cheered, smiling at Amy. Amy frowned.

"What's ohana?" Amy asked as Reuben walked over to her, and she felt her cheeks heat up as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's kind of our motto," Reuben responded, smiling and patting her on the back. "It means family, and, according to my friend Lilo, it means nobody gets left behind."

"Or forgotten," Sparky added, rolling onto his back.

"That's right, or forgotten," Reuben smiled, before turning back to Amy. "Welcome to the family, Amy!"

"Belly?" Sparky asked, and Amy smiled, rubbing the yellow creature's stomach. Sparky purred (was it purring, or a friendly growl?), and nuzzled her arm with his nose.

_Family… _Amy thought to herself, _I have a family… _"Eek!" She jumped as the sandwich suddenly lunged at her. Reuben caught it, throwing it into the trash.

"I knew there was something wrong with that sandwich!"


	24. Chapter 23: The Jazz Man Gets Bothered

Chapter 23: The Jazz Man Gets Bothered Again

_Cameo! Alana's story can be found at SJRivera's profile! Thanks for letting her make an appearance, SJ! Oh, and I apologize for shortness, the next chapter will be longer! Thanks for reading, and reviews are love!_

* * *

"Finally!" Reuben wished the doors weren't automated, so that he could slam it behind him. It had been a long morning – nothing but paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. Oh, and getting the captain his darned Trafalmadorian coffee. _No rest for the weary, _he thought to himself, _until now. I love lunch break. _Reuben made a beeline for his saxophone, and carefully removed it from its hiding place, grabbing some empty sheet music from the shelf above it. _At least I get an hour to work on my piece, now…_

Writing music wasn't his specialty, but it was relaxing, and it helped him get his mind off of work. Reuben walked to his desk, and sat down, and set down the paper in front of him. He carefully set the sax on his lap, before pulling open a drawer and picking a pencil from the paperclips, sticky-notes, and loose staples. However, just as he was about to put the pencil to paper, the monitor built into the wall above his desk lit up. Reuben glanced up. _What- who wants to bother me now? _He mentally groaned as the screen focused, and two familiar faces appeared on the computer.

"Aloha, Reuben!"

"Ih, aloha!"

"Aloha," Reuben responded with minimal enthusiasm. "Dare I ask how you two got into my personal computer?"

"It was easy! We just had to figure out… what's the matter? You look tired." Lilo frowned when she realized that Reuben was giving them a rather blank, exhausted expression.

"Lilo, Lilo!" A blue-haired girl ran into the room, and reuben frowned. _Great, _he thought, _another headache. _"Hey, who's this? Another experiment?"

"Oh, Reuben, this is Alana!" Lilo said, smiling at the screen. Reuben tried to smile, and only halfway succeeded. "Alana, this is Reuben. He's the Galley Officer on the Big Red Battleship!"

"Yeah, and you guys shouldn't have hacked this computer," Reuben muttered between his teeth. "Listen, guys, I have something I need to work on, couldja call back later?"

"Aw, alright," Lilo responded, looking a bit disappointed. "See ya later, Reuben!"

"Say hi to boojiboo!" Stitch chimed in, laughing.

"I do not have a-" The screen shut off. "…Boojiboo. Stop hanging up before I finish talking!" He sighed, and got back to writing. "Now, where was I…"


	25. Chapter 24: Could it Be?

Chapter 24: Could It Be?

Amy froze when the lights on the ship first went out, and the ping pong ball hit her smack in the forehead.

"Ow!"

"Sorry," whoever had hit the ball said from somewhere in the darkness. Amy rubbed her forehead, and instinctively put her hand on the wall to find the door. She was forced to pull it back when a shock, this one much stronger than the previous "tags", shot up her arm. She shook out her arm, and frowned as the other occupants of the rec room began to whisper.

"Is this some sort of drill?"

"I can't see!"

"Why not? I can."

"Shut up, Leonard."

Amy tuned out the whispers, cautiously reaching out to find the door again. Her hand settled on plastic, and she sighed in relief.

_Never thought memorizing the number pad would come in handy, _Amy thought as the door slid open and she stepped out. The hallway was also dark, and she couldn't see more than a foot in front of her.

_"Where are you going, doll?" _The voice whispered, echoing down the hall._ "Are you trying to be a hero? Don't be silly. Be a good girl and go back."_

Amy shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. Maybe if she focused… _Reuben? Sonja? Can you hear me?_

_ Whoa, Amy, is that you? Awesome! Wait, am I hearing things?_

_ No, Sonja, I heard that too. Amy, are you alright?_

_ I'm fine, but the virus is taunting me again. Where are you guys?_

_ I'm in our dorm room. I was just reading, and then BAM! Lights out. Where are you, Amy?_

_ I'm in front of the rec room. Reuben?_

_ I'll come find you and get you back to the front. The captain is ordering everyone to activate the backup generator. Any idea what happened, guys?_

_ I think I have a clue… _Even in the dark, She could see – and feel – electricity in the walls. _But I don't think this is just a nuisance anymore. We need to figure out where this thing came from, and how to get rid of it._

_ I'm on my way._

_ I'm staying here._

_ Reuben, are you sure you'll be okay?_

"Are you kidding? I know my way around this ship with my eyes shut." Amy spun around, and could barely see Reuben's shape in the dark.

"That was fast."

"That was nothing. Come on, let's go." Amy felt Reuben's hand close around hers, and began to follow him, suddenly grateful for the darkness hiding the burning red under her skin.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Amy had no doubt that Reuben knew where he was going, but the dark was making her nervous – if the virus was strong enough to bring down the ship, who said it couldn't spring out and attack?

"Do you trust me?" There was something in his voice – something she didn't recognize – that Amy caught. It sounded… hopeful.

"Yes."

"Then I won't screw this up."

They walked in the darkness for what felt like an eternity, talking about nothing to help the time pass by as Reuben retraced his steps.

"We're lost."

"We are not lost. The elevators ran out of power, so I'm taking the long route."

Amy nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see it. As they kept walking, Amy became aware of something – she felt heavier, but at the same time safer. It took her a moment before she realized that Reuben had protectively wrapped his arm around her waist, probably without realizing it. Amy started to say something, but stopped herself – she didn't want him to let go. Even if he didn't realize what he was doing, she felt safe in his arms – the safest she had felt since she first set foot on this ship… was it already six months, now?

Reuben turned a corner, and Amy stepped closer to him, unwilling to be separated from him. The electricity followed them as they kept walking, but Amy did her best to ignore it, instead focusing on Reuben – his steps, his speed, the warm hand around her… Amy shook her head, trying to stop the burning in her cheeks. _Oh, please, _she thought herself as they reached the entrance. _We're just friends. He doesn't see me that way… right?_


	26. Chapter 25: Change of Plans

Chapter 25: Change of Plans

_Almost done, guys! Thank you so much for reading, and remember, reviews are love!_

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me," Reuben grumbled. "You're telling me you can't access the other generator from here?"

"It's on the lowest level of the ship," Gantu responded from somewhere in the dark. "And I don't know how to get there in the dark."

"So you want us to do it." Reuben said as he gestured to Amy, accidentally hitting her in the face.

"Ow!" Amy's hands flew up to her nose where the back of Reuben's hand had hit it. "Be careful when you do that!"

"Sorry, Amy." He looked at the captain's silhouette again. "Why can't anyone else do it?"

"Because you're the only one who knows how to get around in the dark. And Amy can provide a distraction since the virus is already following her, if Jumba is to be believed. That's an order, Reuben." Reuben grumbled something.

"Alright, fine, we'll go find the generator." He held his hand out. "C'mon, Amy."

Amy somehow found his hand again, and Reuben led her out of the main deck.

"So they're ending us in there alone?" Amy stumbled a bit in the dark from stepping over her own foot. "Gantu must be pretty confident in you."

"Maybe. Or maybe he's hoping we can provide a distraction until he comes up with a good plan B to get to the generator."

"That too," Amy agreed.

The two of them walked in silence for some time, before reaching what Amy believed to be the fifth set of stairs they'd travelled down in that trip alone.

"You ready, Amy?" Reuben asked.

"Let's fix the ship," Amy said.

The two of them walked down the stairs carefully, making sure not to miss a step and go tumbling down and alerting anyone in the room that they were coming. Reuben reached out to open the door, but withdrew his hand when the number pad crackled with electricity. "Ouch!" He hissed as he shook out his hand.

"Can I try?" Amy asked.

"Sure." _The number code is 483, _he thought, and Amy nodded. She looked at the number pad that, mercifully, had lit-up numbers. Amy concentrated on the 4.

_Move._

Click. She smiled as the button pushed itself, before looking at the 8. _Move. _Click. _Move. _Click. The door slid open. Reuben smiled at Amy in the darkness, and the two walked in.

_Where's the generator? _Amy looked at Reuben.

_This way. _Reuben led her to the back of the room, and Amy could barely make out a large machine. _Okay, I'm going to plug this in, you go pull the lever over there, _Reuben nodded towards a large level on the other side of the machine. Amy walked over to it.

_Now?_

_Three… two… one… now!_

Amy pulled the lever, and there was silence. Then, the generator roared to life as the lights in the ship started turning on. Amy almost threw her hands in the air with a cheer, when she spotted something behind Reuben.

"What's that?"

Reuben turned around, and the two approached the large computer behind the generator. It was connected to a wire that ran out from a crack in the wall, up towards the entire ship.

"This must be how the virus got downloaded," Reuben said. "Somebody set up a computer on the inside so we wouldn't be able to trace it."

Amy looked at the screen. "Statistics, numbers, details of prisoners on the ship… the virus is downloading files from the ship's main computer."

"A spy," Reuben muttered. Amy was about to stand up when she felt a hand clamp over her shoulder.

"Tag, doll," a voice whispered in her ear, and she whipped around to face the virus, smirking at her. "You're it."


	27. Chapter 26: The Virus

Chapter 26: The Virus

"You-!"

"Me." The virus's voice crackled with electricity, and he smirked as Amy took a step back. "I've been waiting to meet you face to face, doll. I must say, the wait was worth it – you're even more interesting in person. That energy emanating from your mind…" he seemed to sniff the air, despite the fact that his electric body didn't seem to have a nose. "…Delicious."

Reuben ran in front of Amy. "You're not laying a hand on her, you troublemaking sparkler!" The virus raised an eyebrow – well, it looked like it. It was hard to tell – his entire body was blue electricity with a vaguely human shape and a pair of eyes that were simply yellow shapes on his… head. "You're the one who's been giving us so much trouble!"

"Me?" The virus sounded hurt as he pointed at himself. He had begun circling them, slowly and amiably, like he was taking a stroll in the park. "I was just doing my job. Keep the ship busy while my master downloads all of those silly files, cause distractions-"

"Like the blackout," Reuben grumbled. The virus glared at him.

"Don't interrupt. Cause distractions and the like. Keep you on a wild goose chase. You," he eyed Amy, "were simply too interesting for me to ignore. I detected your power as soon as I was on the ship – you have so much potential with all of that energy. I couldn't help but seek you out through the walls…" he smiled. "And I must say, our little game was fun."

"Game? You electrocuted me and kept me up at night!" Amy protested, stepping out from behind Reuben. "You call that a game?"

"I call that getting your attention. But perhaps my approach was… less than agreeable?" He crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"Less than- you were driving me crazy, and not only that, but you've put the entire ship in danger! You're a danger to everyone here!" She took a step forward. "I am so sick and tired of your crap!"

The virus's shoulder seemed to droop a bit. "How disappointing. I was so hoping that we could be friends, maybe partners in crime." He gave another melodramatic sigh. "But I guess I'll just have to kill you after all. I apologize." He opened his eyes, and his hands crackled as energy collected around his palms. "Let's start with you." He shot a bolt of electricity from his palm, and hit Reuben in the chest. Reuben cringed as energy shot through his body, before finally falling to the ground.

"Reuben!"

"Cheap shot…" Reuben grumbled as he struggled to get up. "Didn't even give me time to think about fighting back…"

"Now you, sweetheart. I'm so terribly sorry, but orders are orders. Kill anybody who interferes." He aimed at Amy, who ducked as the blast shot towards her. It hit a wall, leaving a large black circle where it had hit.

Amy quickly ran as the virus stared at the black circle in surprise, before charging up and shooting at her. She came to a screeching halt just before she ran into the path of the blast, and the virus cursed.

"Hold still, doll, and this won't hurt as much!"

"It's my turn," Amy muttered, looking at the wall-pane that had fallen off from the second blast. _Move. _It didn't. _Move!_

"Thank you," The virus responded, "for stopping. Now, if we can just get on with killing you properly, I would greatly appreciate-" CLANG!

The virus was knocked backwards as the metal pane hit him square in the face, sending him tumbling to the floor. Amy smiled a bit. _It worked! _The virus stood back up, steadying himself by grabbing his knees.

"That was… a good shot…doll…" he muttered, as if he still hadn't quite registered what just happened. "But it's going to take a lot more than that to get rid of me." He aimed at Amy again, and she jumped out of the way as he sent a ball of electricity towards her. "Stop that!"

"Not used to dealing something harder to catch than yourself?" Amy asked as she scrambled to her feet. "Must be frustrating."

"Don't taunt me!" He stood up, and began powering up. "I don't want to hurt you more than I already have to! Just hold still and I will make this as painless as possible!"

"I appreciate the sentiment," Amy said as she knocked him back with the wall panel again, "but I also appreciate living."

The virus got up again, only for Reuben to get him in a headlock. "That's for earlier! Nice work, Amy!"

"Let me go!" Another jolt went through Reuben, who clenched his teeth but refused to break his hold on the virus. The virus tried to pry himself free, but to no avail, and electrocuted Reuben again. "Stop this!"

Amy let out a sigh of relief, but saw that Reuben was starting to weaken. _I have to find a way to stop him without getting Reuben killed… wait. If he can't leave this room, then that means… _She looked at the computer plugged into the wall. _He's just projecting himself from the computer!_

Reuben was forced to let go as a third jolt went through him, and the virus dashed towards Amy. "Now, let's get this over with!"

_Move! Move! _Amy thought. The mouse on the screen failed to do anything. _Blitznak! _She ran towards it, and fell over as a blast hit her foot. She hit the floor with a grunt as the virus stood over her.

"Now, for the last time, doll… hold still."

Amy looked at him. _Move! _The virus was shot backwards at the wall, and Amy turned back towards the computer, scrambling up and running towards it. She quickly grabbed the mouse. _C'mon… _she hit Start.

"Don't you dare!" The virus stood up, and Amy hit SHUT DOWN. "No! No!"

Amy and Reuben watched as the virus dashed toward her, flickering in the air, and barely grasped her wrist before disappearing altogether. Amy slowly unplugged the computer from the wall, and the two looked at each other.

"We… we did it." Amy whispered.

"I guess we did," Reuben said with a smile, and stood up, walking over to Amy and helping her up. "Now let's get out of here."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

Both of them turned upon hearing the click of a gun, and saw Agent Crystal Venom standing in the doorway and aiming a pistol at Reuben's head.


	28. Chapter 27: Confrontations

Chapter 27: Confrontation

"Venom?" Reuben practically spat the name out. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Getting you two out of the way." She pointed the gun at Amy. "Starting with you."

BANG! Amy fell to her knees as she felt the bullet pierce her shoulder, and pain shot through her body. Reuben knelt down next to her. "Amy, are you alright?"

"Stay down, alien," Venom said, and Reuben glared at her. Amy could only stare at the floor as blood flowed onto her hand and to the floor, her eyes widened in shock. The pain was sudden and overwhelming – all she could feel was the searing fire in her shoulder. "Do you know how long it took me to get to where I am? I will not have my efforts spoiled by some teenage girl in pigtails and her fur-covered boyfriend."

Reuben ignored that last part. "Why are you doing this? Who do you work for?"

Venom let out a bark of laughter. "What, you want names? I collect information and auction it off to the highest bidder. You wouldn't understand the value some people place on this sort of information – you don't care about money or anything but your stupid jokes and your _sandwiches." _She spat the word out as she pointed the gun at Reuben again. "But I've said too much. Now, you two die."

BZZZT!

Venom dropped the gun as electricity shot through her body, before dropping to the floor, unconscious. Reuben stared in disbelief at Venom. "What in the-"

"Ohana?"

Reuben looked up at the doorway. "Sparky! Great work, cousin!"

"Ohana, ohana!" Sparky ran over to Amy, nudging her. Reuben looked at Amy again. He cursed.

"C'mon, let's get Amy to the medic before she loses too much blood." He gently lifted her up before walking towards the stairway. Amy looked at him.

"Reuben…"

"Easy there, Amy." Reuben said as he walked upstairs. "You can relax now. It's all over."


	29. Chapter 28: The End

Chapter 28: The End

"Un…" Amy woke up to find that the room was blurry, and she could only see off-white above her. _Not this again…_

"Here are your glasses." Amy reached up with one hand, but pain shot up her shoulder. "Easy, Amy." She took them with the other hand, and Reuben and Sparky came into view as she put them on. "You've been asleep for a few hours." Reuben smiled at her as Sparky sat on his holder, happily chewing on a particularly large battery.

"Venom…"

"Is being held in a cell right now. You blacked out shortly after I got you to the medic, and she removed the bullet from your shoulder. You can't leave the infirmary for a few weeks so your arm can recover, but she says you'll be fine." He held up his own bandaged arm, and gestured to a few more bandages on his torso. "I'm being treated for electrocution burns, so we're both stuck." Amy smiled.

"So… we won?"

"We won. And a good thing too, otherwise who knows how much information could've gotten out. But," he glanced at Sparky, "I guess we really should thank Sparky for that, huh?" Sparky smiled, looking happier than a kid in a candy store.

"Thanks, Sparky, for saving us back there," Amy said quietly. "And thank you, Reuben, for stopping the virus."

"We stopped the virus, together. I can't take all the credit."

"I guess so." Amy yawned. "Where's Sonja?"

"We haven't told anyone yet – they're still calming down from the blackout, and I don't know how much more this ship can take." He smiled. "Besides, I think you're gonna need some rest before you can handle Sonja's energy levels." Amy nodded.

"Yeah… I guess." Sparky suddenly elbowed Reuben in the head.

"Cousin! Boojiboo!"

"Alright, alright, I'm getting to it!" Reuben glared at Sparky before turning to Amy, who raised an eyebrow. "So, after we're out of the hospital…"

"Yes?"

"D'you think we could… I don't know… have lunch at the rec room some time?" Sparky slapped his forehead at the casualty of it all, but Amy smiled.

"I'd like that."

"Cool." There was a pause as Reuben felt his face heat up.

"On one condition."

"What?" Reuben lowered an eyebrow, frowning slightly.

"Will you play your saxophone for me sometime?" Reuben smiled.

"Yeah, I can do that." Amy smiled.

"Cool."

The End

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_It's over, you guys! Thank you so much for following amy through her adventure, and thank you for all of your comments and criticisms! I may write more about Amy, Reuben, and Sonja in the future, but for now, Esmara is signing out! Tell me what you think, because as always, reviews are love! Bye!_


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